













a 





MANUAL OF 


Useful Information 

EMBRACING 


More than 100,000 Facts, Figures and Fancies, drawn from 
Every Land and Language, and Carefully Classi¬ 
fied for the Ready Reference of Teachers, 
Students and the Family Circle. 


COMPILED UNDER DIRECTION OF 

J. C. THOMAS, 

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WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 

FRANK A. FITZPATRICK, 

Superintendent City Schools, Omaha, Neb. 



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PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE. 


The aim of this Manual is to present in accessible form facts 
and figures of general interest to teachers and scholars; to the 
man of affairs, the student and the people at large. It contains 
not one useless or superfluous sentence. The grain has been 
sifted from the chaff; the precious metal extracted from the 
ore. In it will be found terse answers to thousands of ques¬ 
tions, the solution of which is a matter of daily need to busy 
men. The work is designed as a compendium of useful knowledge, 
of problems not covered by other books, or of information that, 
to seek out personally, would require the possession of many vol¬ 
umes. The ruling idea in its preparation has been to furnish in 
as few words as possible such data as would be of service to men 
of inquiring minds, to scholars and to their instructors. Matters 
of general interest, scattered through scores of reference books; 
and facts and figures from a hundred technical works are here col¬ 
lated and arranged in such a manner as to render the “Manual 
of Useful Information” a work of great intrinsic value to all 
classes of readers. Whether for the school, the home or the 
office; for the educator, the parent or the professional man, this 
volume will be found alike interesting and instructive. 

It does not cover the entire domain of art and science, of liter¬ 
ature and history, but the most important facts have been culled 
from the world’s great storehouses of knowledge with much 
painstaking care, and these have been judiciously classified and 
systematically arranged so that it offers an epitome of general 
information at once accessible, accurate and needful—constitut¬ 
ing an invaluable aid to the seeker of light. The work has in¬ 
volved the tillage of a wide field, and it is hoped that the gar¬ 
nered product may prove a serviceable contribution to the 
literature of our time. 


(3) 



THE WORKING TEACHERS’ LIBRARY 


COMPRISES 

Fitre Standard, Reliable and Comparatively Inexpensive Volumes, 
covering in the most successful manner the whole field of 
the actual needs of the Public School Teacher: 


I. —The Complete Writings Of David P. Page, edited by J. M. Greenwood, Superintendent 

Kansas City Schools, contains a new life with portrait of this great educator, and includes 
the Theory and Practice of Teaching, thoroughly revised and modernized. The Mutual 
Duties of Parents and Teachers and the “Schoolmaster”—a Dialogue, to which are added 
the Legal Status of the Teacher, also Reading Outlines—the latter for reading circles, for 
reviews and as an aid to individual study. 

II. — The Teacher in Literature, with an Introduction by Prof. H. P. Judson, Head Dean of 

the Colleges, University of Chicago, contains selections from seventeen of the ablest authors 
who have written on educational subjects, from the reign of Queen Elizabeth to the present 
time. It is a pleasing presentation of the “schools of literature,” and illustrates in an 
exceedingly practical manner the gradual development of the public school system. 

III. — Practical Lessons in Science, by Dr. J. T. Scovell, for ten years professor of Natural 
Science, Indiana State Normal School, is designed to cultivate observation and perception 
as it deals with the common everyday facts and phenomena which are the familiar events 
of our lives. It crystallizes the facts and laws of the various sciences and presents an 
abundance of easy experiments suited to the ordinary school-room conveniences, making 
it a work of inestimable value to teachers of all grades. 

IV. — Practical Lessons in Psychology, by Prof. W. O. Krohn, of the University of Illinois, 
is a book on tact and “common sense” in teaching. One of the most important requisites 
of the teacher is a knowledge of at least the elementary principles of the Science of the 
Mind. Before he can enter intelligently upon his work, he must know something of his 
own mental powers and have some idea of how to measure the intellectual needs and 
capabilities of the children under his charge. In no other publication is this subject so 
comprehensively, so interestingly and so instructively treated. 

V— The Manual Of Useful Information, with an Introduction by F. A. Fitzpatrick, Superin¬ 
tendent Omaha City Schools contains more than 100,000 facts, figures and fancies drawn 
from every land and language, and carefully classified for the ready reference of the student, 
the teacher and the home circle. It is a compendium of the most important facts of general 
interest, and so arranged as to supply the teacher with more food for reflection, more 
subjects for discussion, more curious and helpful suggestions, and more general exercise 
material than was ever before published in such convenient and practical form. 

These Five Volumes are handsomely printed on heavy paper 
and elegantly bound in uniform style. Price for the Library complete, 
$6.50. For further information, address the Publishers. 


THE WERNER COMPANY, 160-174 Adams Street, Chicago. 








INTRODUCTION. 


The teacher, more than the member of any other profession, 
is expected to answer any question that may be propounded by 
the outside w r orld. This requirement, added to the special tech¬ 
nical knowledge needed to successfully impart instruction to the 
young, puts upon him a heavy burden. 

The “Manual of Useful Information” places in the hands of 
the teacher a mass of information apparently indispensable to 
any well-informed man, and in such a shape as to be usable. The 
classification is admirable and of itself possesses great value. 
The terse, excellent English in which the information is clothed, 
adds a charm to the book. 

In this age the attention of the best thought in education is 
directed to the unification of studies, relating each to the other 
in such a way as to unite the entire topics of school-life into a 
harmonious, complete whole. 

One of the greatest difficulties in the way of accomplishing 
this work of unification has been the meager educational advan¬ 
tages available for the majority of teachers. The necessity which 
impels many to plunge into the practice of a profession before 
they have finished their studies, prevents the acquisition of 
power that would readily know the way to knowledge. Teachers 
have not known enough of the world, of history, of language, 
of literature, of the things which go to constitute that acquisi¬ 
tion which the educated world calls culture. 

Culture may be defined: “To know the best that has been 
said and done” in all time in such a way as to make the inherit¬ 
ance our own. To the majority of mankind information is a 
prerequisite of culture. 


(5) 



6 


INTRODUCTION. 


The information contained in this little Manual is the woof 
and warp of the more perfect fabric which is to be worked out 
from these foundations. The material presented has been most 
carefully selected with a view to assisting teachers to help them¬ 
selves, and thus to pave the way toward helping their pupils. 

In teaching history how useful it will be to the pupils to place 
on the blackboard day by day some selected topic from “Facts 
About Our Country.” 

The items of information contained in the chapter on “Time 
and Its Landmarks” are related to almost every day’s work in 
geography and history. 

The chapter on “ Language; Its Use and Misuse,” by calling 
attention to definite, specific points, will illustrate and intensify 
the generalizations of grammar, and enable the teacher to con¬ 
centrate his efforts from time to time upon defects which might 
otherwise escape his attention. 

The table of “ Synonyms and Antonyms” cannot fail to be of 
immense value to any student or teacher of English. Pointing 
the way toward the obtaining of a large and plastic vocabulary, 
its study must surely tend in the direction of a nice appreciation 
and correct use of language. 

Is it desirous to enliven the dreary monotony of a recitation in 
arithmetic, the chapter on “Mystic Numbers” will furnish both 
amusement and instruction. 

Indeed, with this little volume the teacher may look out upon 
the world through each and all of twenty-two windows, gather¬ 
ing at a glance the rays of light which are reflected from the 
elevations which are illuminated and able, in a way, from the ra¬ 
diated light to get a glimpse of the valleys between the heights. 

Equally valuable to the student or teacher, it is believed that 
a judicious use in the recitation of the information that may be 
found within these pages will increase the interest of the pupils 
and lead to better comprehension of the topics studied. 

Frank A. Fitzpatrick. 


CONTENTS, 


PAGE. 

Facts About Our Country:— 

Points of Peculiar Interest. 

—Minor Political Parties.— 
Mayflower’s Passenger List. 

—Climates in the U. S.— 
How Our Country Grew.— 
State and Territorial Capi¬ 
tals.—Increase of Popula¬ 
tion by Decades.—Popula¬ 
tion and Area Centers.— 
Figures of National Impor¬ 
tance. — Where Illiteracy 
Prevails.—Origin of State 
Names. — Mottoes of the 
States.—Nicknames of 
States and Cities.— Noted 
National Nicknames. 

—Wonders of American 
Railroading. — Our Coal 
Fields. — Immigration to 
the U. S.—Nationality of 
our Immigrants.— Growth 
of Fifty Cities.—Succession 
of the Presidents.—Gener¬ 
als of the U. S. Army.— 
Wars of the United States. 

—Guide to the Civil Serv¬ 
ice.—Government Salary 
List.—Patent Office Meth¬ 
ods.—Land and Homestead 
Laws.—Alien Landholders. 

—Public Land Grants.— 
Public LandTitles.—Public 
Lands Still Vacant.—Ind¬ 
ians and their Reserva¬ 
tions. — Indians in the 
United States.—Slavery and 
Serfdom.—Public Debt of 
United States.—Armies of 
the Civil War.—World’s 
F a i r in a Nutshell.—Es¬ 
sence of the Constitution. 

—Twelve American Won¬ 
ders.—The American No¬ 
bility.11-40 

Time and Its Landmarks:— 

Dates and Facts to Ponder.— 
Standard Time.—Where the 


PAGE. 

Sun Jumps a Day.—Harvest 
Months of the W o r 1 d.— 
Ship’s Time. — French 
R e p u b licau Calendar. — 

—Chief Christian Festivals. 

—Calendars of History.— 
Months and their Names.— 
Origin of Week-day Names. 

—The Historic Ages.— 
Legal Holidays in the 
States.—The Adjustment of 

the Calendar.41-51 

Language, Its Use and flisuse:— 
Pickings for the Student.— 
Chief Languages of the 
World.—How to Speak Cor¬ 
rectly.—The Art of Letter 
Writing.—Punctuation a s 
it Should be.—The Use of 
Capitals.—Analysis of Vol- 
apiik. — Meanings of 
Christian Names.—A Pli¬ 
able Language.—Guide to 
Correct Pronunciation.— 
Rules of Pronunciation.— 
Common Errors of Speech. 

—12,000 Synonyms and 
Antonym s.—F o r e i g n 
Phrases Interpreted.—List 
of Useful Abbreviations.— 
Stray Hints for Writers. .53-107 
Poetry and General Literature:— 
Books, Authors and Titles.— 
Vanity of the Scholastics. 

—Copyright, Home and 
International.—How L i t- 
erature Pays.—L i t e r a r y 
Pseudonyms.—The Forty 
Immortals.—Some Famous 
Libraries.—Honors Among 
Books.—First Newspapers. 

—BooksWe Hear About. 109-123 
Mythology and Folk=Lore:— 
Vagaries of Human Belief.— 
Story of The Nibelungen 
Lied.—The Sagas of the 
Norsemen.—Old Rip Van 


7 






8 


CONTENTS . 


PAGE. 

Winkle and OtherSleepers. 
Indian Folk Fore.—The 
Language of Gem s. —The 
Gift of Second Sight.— 
Olympian Deities and He¬ 
roes.125-138 

Industry and Commerce:— 

Facts and Channels of Trade. 

—Railway Mileage of the 
World.—Around the World 
in 82 Days.—Theory of 
Auctions.—Curious By- 
Products of Coal.—Coal 
Products of the United 
States.—The World’s Coal 
Fields.—The World’s Fin¬ 
est Harbors. — Condensed 

Postal Information.139-150 

Handicraft and Invention:— 
Triumphs of Skill and Genius. 
The World’s Noted 
B r id g e s.— Durability of 
Various Woods.—Selected 
Hints for Artisans.—Har¬ 
mony and Relations of 
Colors—The Phonograph- 
Synopsis of Great Inven¬ 
tions .151-164 

Money and Finance:— 

Pecuniary Facts and Defini¬ 
tions.—A Lesson to Bor¬ 
rowers.—National Debts of 
the World.—Gold and Sil¬ 
ver Production. — The 
Standard Silver Dollar.— 
Great Financial Panics.— 

A “Penny-Wise” Table.— 
Merchants’ Cost and Price 
Marks.—Import Duties of 
the Nations.—Our Bank¬ 
rupt Laws.—Short Interest 
Rules.—About Trade Dis¬ 
counts.—Wonders of Com¬ 
pound Interest.—Slang of 


the Stock Broker. — Our 
Banki ng System Ex¬ 
plained.165-175 


Coins, Weights and Measures:— 

Home and Foreign Stand¬ 
ards.—All about an Acre. 

—Capacity of a Ten-Ton 
Freight Car.—Money of the 


PAGE 

World.—The Value of For¬ 
eign Coins. — Weights of 
Metals without weighing. 

—Domestic Weights and 
Measures.—Ratio of Apoth¬ 
ecaries and Imperial 
Measure. — Handy Metric 
Tables.—Sundry Weights 
and Measures.—The Area 
of a Circle.—Coal Weighed 
by Measure.—Measure of 
Earth, etc.—Trade Sizes of 
Books. — Value o f Dia¬ 
monds.—Valuable Calcula¬ 
tions. — The Story of our 
Coinage.—Numismatics as 
a Study.177-188 

War and Its Appliances:— 

Armies, Arms and Armor.— 
Ratio of Loss in Great Bat¬ 
tles.—Chief Battles of The 
Civil War. — Blood and 
Treasure Cost in Wars.— 
Length and Cost of Amer¬ 
ican Wars. — American 
Dockyards.—Decisive Bat¬ 
tles of History.—R e c e n t 
Desperate Wars.—The 
Latest Explosive.189-204. 

Creeds of the World:— 

Notes on Faith and Worship. 

—The Seven Bibles of The 
World. —Nationality of The 
Popes.—Fate of the Apos¬ 
tles.—The Name of God in 
Forty-Eight Languages.— 

The Salvation Army. — 
Worship of the Human 
Family.—The Great Coun¬ 
cils.—Mormons and Their 
Book.—Creeds of The Presi¬ 
dents.—Religious Bodies in 
the U. S.—What is a State 
Religion? — An Omitted 
Psalm.—Religion as a 
Science.—The Testimony 

of Literature.205-224 

Jottings in Science:— 

Answers to many Queries.— 

The Largest River Systems. 

—The Zodiac and its Signs. 
Freezing, Fusing and Boil- 











CONTENTS. 


9 


PAGE. 

ing Points.—Specific Grav¬ 
ity of Substances. —The 
Solar System.—Some Great 
Waterfalls.—L ightning 
Conductors.—Latitude and 
Longitude.—The Thermom¬ 
eter. — Summer Heat in 
Various Lands.—Historic 
Cold Weather. — Extreme 
Heat in Europe.— Horse 
Power of Steam Engines.— 
Terms in Electricity.— 
Heights of Chief Moun¬ 
tain Peaks.—Curious Facts 
about Fishes.—The Aurora 
Borealis.—Names of Chem¬ 
ical Substances.—The Neb¬ 
ular Hypothesis. — Aero¬ 
lites. — To Measure The 
Earth.—What is Ventrilo¬ 
quism?—Some Facts in Hy¬ 
draulics.—Genesis of He- 
liography. — The Artesian 
Well.—The Last Word on 
Electricity. 225-248. 

Plain Law for Plain People:— 

A' Definition with a Purpose. 

—Business Law in Brief.— 
Agreements and Contracts. 
Notes and Negotiable 
Paper. — Partnership. — 
Agency and Attorney.— 
Landlord and Tenant.— 
Law Relating to Farms, 
etc.—Lien Laws.—Deeds, 
Transfer of Property.— 
Mortgages.—Assignments. 

—Inns, Hotels and Boarding 
Houses. — Bonds.—Bills of 
Sale. —Corporations. —Law 
of Finding. — Wills and 
How to Make Them.—The 
Right of Dower.—Marriage 
and Divorce. — Rights of 
Married Women.249-268 

Politics and Statecraft:— 

Definitions and Details.— 
What is Tammany?—When 
are you Twenty-One?— 
About State Election.—The 
Australian Ballot System. 

—The Presidential Elec- 


PAGE. 

tion.—How to become a 
C i ti z e n .—Parliamentary 
Law Condensed.—Woman 
Suffrage. — Parties that 
Elected Presidents.—The 
Fugitive Slave Law.—Con¬ 
gress and its Duties... .269-281 
Music and the Fine Arts:— 

Stray Hints on Art and 
Artists.—The Largest Sta¬ 
tue on Record. — Some 
Marvelous Paintings.— 
Story of the “Art Divine.” 

—The Portland Vase.— 

The Impressionists. — The 
Great Masters and Great 
Schools.—The Symbolism 
of Colors.—The Organ in 
America.—M eanirgs of 

Musical Terms.283-294 

Side=Lights on History:— 

Influences for Good or Evil. 

—The First French Revolu¬ 
tion.—Modes of Executing 
Criminals. —Monarchs who 
Retired from Business.— 
Fathers of Their Country. 

—History in Rhyme.—The 
Champ de Mars.—Origin of 

Some ’Isms.295 312 

riystic Letters and Numbers:— 
Sundry Odd Pickings.— 
France’s Fatal Three.—The 
Apocalyptic Number.— 
Dates of the Second Em¬ 
pire. —The Five Wits.—The 
Sacred Number. —Lessons 
of The Letters.—A Few 
Curious Anagrams.—Three 
for a Finish.—Seven Sleep¬ 
ers.—The Poetry on T.— 
Some “Lucky” and “Un¬ 
lucky” Numbers. — The 
Vowels.— Masterpieces of 
Alliteration.—Easy Sums 
in Arithmetic.—Honors to 
Forty.—The Enigma “H” 

—Curious Misnomers.— 
Destiny of The Stuarts.— 

The Letter M.—Try it and 
then Explain.—Three 
Times Three.313-326 








10 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Famous Persons and Places:— 

The Truth about Aspasia.— 

The Story of Acadie.—The 
English Claimant.—Notes 
on Mammoth Cave.—Crad¬ 
les and Graves.—Famous 
Ancient Cities.-The Father 
of the Cenobites.—Giants 
and Dwarfs.—The Colos¬ 
seum.—Exhibit of Local 
Names.—Washington and 
Education.—The World’s 
Seven Wonders.—The 
World’s Noblest Park.— 
Marvels of Old Egypt. .341-347 
The World and Its Ways:— 

A Myriad Questions An¬ 
swered.—Titles, Offices, 
and Dignities.—Previous 
World’s Fairs.—Remark¬ 
able Modern Plagues.— 
Great Famines of History. 

—Rulers of all Nations.— 
Area and Population of The 
Continents.—Salaries of 
The Crowned Heads.— 
Crossing The Line. — Statis¬ 
tics of The Leading Coun¬ 
tries.—A11 The Famous 
Diamonds.—The Sweating 
System.—Caste Among The 
Hindoos.-Heights of Noted 
Edifice s.—Language of 
Flowers. —E nd of The 
World.—Great Floods and 
Inundations.- —H i stori c 
Fires.— All Who Ever 

Lived.349-374 

Races and Tribes of Hen:— 

Features, Types and Studies. 

—About the Saracens.— 
OurNations Predecessors.— 

The Great Human Family. 

—The Gypsy Tribe.—The 
Scattered Nation.—U n i ty 

of The Race.375-385 

Health, Hygiene and Physiol= 
ogy:- 

Medley ol Facts and Counsels. 
—Weight and Stature of 
Man.—Composition andDi- 


P.AGE. 

gestion of Foods.—Periods 
of Digestion.—Bleeding at 
the Nose.—Neuralgia.— 

The Dreaded Consumption. 

—Insomnia.—Colds and 
Hoarseness. — Asthiha. — 
Coryza. — Catarrh.— 

— Bronchitis. — Typhoid 
Fever.—Lead Colic.— 
Rheumatism. — Malaria- 
Fever- Ague. —T yphus 
Fever.—How to CatchCold. 

— Cure of Felons.—Preven¬ 
tion of Cholera.—A Famous 
Cholera Mixture.—Reme¬ 
dies For Croup.—Value of 
Hot Water.—The Cure of 
Earache.—Notes on Food 
Products.—Wonders ofThe 
Human Body.—Gymnastics 
and Physical Development. 

—Secrets of Good Health. 

—Sundry Health Hints.— 

The Human Pulse.—The 
Philosophy of Eating.— 

The Vital Fluid.395-420 

Hearth and Homer- 
Crystals that form Gentle¬ 
men.—Uses of Ammonia. 

—Management of Stoves. 

—To Destroy Insects and 
Vermin.—To Take Stains 
from Carpets.—Incombust¬ 
ible Dresses. — How to 
Freshen Up Furs.—To 
Wash Feathers.—The Art 
o f Conversation. — The 
Household and Toilet.— 
Accidents and Injuries.— 
Antidotes For Poisons.— 
How to Carve at Table.— 
Conduct at Table.—George 
Washington’s Rules of Con¬ 
duct.—Care of the Person. 
Etiquette of the Street.— 
Hints on Traveling.—Suc¬ 
cess and its Secrets. — 
Choice of Occupation.— 
Method and Detail.—Self 


Reliance.—Never Despair. 
—Talent and Tact.—Part¬ 
ing Counsels. 421-460 

See also Alphabetical Index, pp. 461-480. 








FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


Breathes there a man with soul so dead, 

Who never to himself hath said— 

This is my own—my native land! 

—Scott. 

POINTS OF PECULIAR INTEREST. 

It was Thursday, July 4th, 1776 ! 

The first Atlantic cable operated in 1858. 

The first steamer crossed the Atlantic in 1819. 

Leif Ericsson was the Columbus of the Northmen. 

Gas was first used in the United States at Boston in 1822. 

The battles of Bunker Hill and Lexington were fought, 1775. 

San Salvador, or Guanahani, is now one of the Bahamas Islands. 

The name America comes from the Florentine, Amerigo Vespucci. 

The first theater in the United States was at Williamsburg, Va., 1752. 

Watling Island is the British name for Columbus’ first landing place. 

The first iron ore discovered in this country was mined in Virginia 
in 1715. 

The first American library was founded at Harvard College, Cam¬ 
bridge, 1638. 

Sebastian Cabot was the first navigator to sight the territory of the 
now United States. 

. First cotton raised in the United States was in Virginia, in 1621; 
first exported, 1747. 

The population of the original thirteen States at the first census in 
1790, was 3,929,214. 

St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States was founded by 
the Spaniards in 1505. 

Oberlin College, Ohio, was the first college in the United States to 
admit female students. 

Jamestown, Va., founded 1607, was the first permanent English 
settlement in America. 

The largest park in the United States is Fairmount, at Philadelphia, 
and contains 2,740 acres. 

Guanahani was the native name of the first American island on 
which Columbus landed. 


11 



12 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORM A TION. 


The first public schools in America were established in the New 
England States about 1642. 

Modern investigation has shown that the Vikings visited America in 
the tenth and eleventh centuries. 

Gaelic students claim that St. Brendan, an Irish monk, reached this 
continent in the sixth century. 

The first telegraph in operation in America was between Washing¬ 
ton and Baltimore, May 27, 1844. 

The largest tree in the world is in Tulare county, California. It is 
275 feet high and 106 feet in circumference at its base. 

The first electrical signal ever transmitted between Europe and 
America passed over the Field submarine cable on August 5, 1858. 

The present national colors of the United States were not adopted 
by Congress until 1777. The flag was first used by Washington at Cam¬ 
bridge, January 1, 1776. 

Tobacco was discovered in San Domingo in 1496; afterwards by the 
Spaniards in Yucatan in 1520. It was introduced into France in 1560 
and into England in 1583. 

The part of United States territory most recently acquired is the 
island of San Juan, near Vancouver’s Island. It was evacuated by Eng¬ 
land at the close of November, 1873. 

The greatest cataract in the world is Niagara, the height of the 
American Falls being 165 feet. The highest fall of water in the world is 
that of the Yosemite in California, being 2,550 feet. 

The first English settlement on the present territory of the United 
States was that made in Virginia by the English London Company in 
1607. The Plymouth Company about the same time settled Massachu¬ 
setts Bay. 

The “copperhead” is a venomous serpent, closely allied to the rattle" 
snake and is found along our coast from New England to Florida. The 
term was applied by the Unionists to the peace party during the civil 
war, as suggesting insidious foes. 

The largest producing farm in the world lies in the southwest corner 
of Louisiana, and is owned by a northern syndicate. It runs one hundred 
miles north and south. The immense tract is divided into convenient 
pastures, with stations of ranches every six miles. The fencing alone 
cost nearly $50,000. 

The largest State in our grand republic is Texas, which contains 
274,356 square miles, capable of sustaining 20,000,000 of people, and then 
it would not be more crowded than Scotland is at present. It has been 
estimated that the entire population of the globe could be seated upon 
chairs within the boundary of Texas and each have four feet of elbow 
room. 

What have been called Secession Ordinances were passed by the 
following States: (1) South Carolina, Dec. 20, 1860; (2) Florida, Jan. 7, 
1861; (3) Mississippi, Jan. 9, 1861; (4) Alabama, Jan. 11, 1861; (5) 
Georgia, Jan. 19, 1861; (6) Louisiana, Jan. 26, 1861; (7) Texas, Feb. 7, 
1861; (8) Virginia, April 17, 1861; (9) Arkansas, May 6, 1861; (10) Ten¬ 
nessee, May 6, 1861; (11) North Carolina, May 20, 1861. The Civil War 
commenced April 13, 1861. 


FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


13 


The historic term “Border States” was usually applied to Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri. They were so called 
because they bordered upon the line of Free States and Slave-holding 
States. The term is now an anachronism. 

The Whisky Insurrection occurred in Western Pennsylvania in the 
summer of 1794. It arose from discontent with the excise regulations, 
and culminated in open riot and the destruction of private property; but 
by the efforts of leading citizens the rising was quelled without the aid 
of the fifteen thousand troops which Washington promptly sent against 
the insurgents. 

“Common Sense” is the title of a pamphlet published in 1776 by 
Thomas Paine, then living in Philadelphia, urging Americans to claim 
independence. It ridiculed the idea of a small island, 3,000 miles off, 
ruling the immense continent of America, and threatening three million 
men, more vigorous and more virtuous than their would-be enslavers. 
This spark was sufficient to arouse our forefathers, who at once signed 
their Declaration of Independence. 

The largest body of fresh water in the world is Take Superior, It is 
400 miles long and 180 miles wide; its circumference, including the wind¬ 
ings of its various bays, has been estimated at 1,800 miles. Its area in 
square miles is 32,000, which is greater than the whole of New England, 
leaving out Maine. The greatest depth of this inland sea is two hundred 
fathoms, or 1,200 feet. Its average depth is about one hundred and sixty 
fathoms. It is 636 feet above sea level. 

Luray cavern, a cave, not large, but remarkable for the vast number 
and extraordinary shapes of its stalactites, is close to Euray village, 
Virginia (ninety miles from Richmond). Many of these wonderful col¬ 
umns exceed fifty feet in length; numbers of them are hollow, giving 
out bell-like notes when struck; and the colors range from waxy white 
to yellow, brown, or rosy red. The cavern, which is lit with the electric 
light, attracts thousands of visitors every year. 

The origin of the term “Uncle Sam,” a nickname for the United 
States government, is traced by some to the following story: Samuel 
Wilson, one of the inspectors of provisions in the War of Independence 
was called by his workmen and friends “Uncle Sam.” Goods came into 
his hands one day consigned to one of the contractors named Elbert An¬ 
derson, and marked “E. A., U. S.” These initials were construed by one 
of the hands, ‘ ‘Elbert Anderson and Uncle Sam. ’ ’ The joke has lived and 
“Uncle Sam” is now a synonym for the Republic itself. 

Our country has the fastest war vessel in the world. The “New 
York” is a splendid example of an all-around warship, an unusual com¬ 
bination of great offensive and defensive power. On her recent trial 
trip she made the fastest time on record, 21.1 knots per hour. Her 
length on the water line is 380 feet inches, her breadth, moulded, 64 
feet 10 inches, and her mean draft 23 feet inches. Her twin screw, 
vertical, triple expansion engines furnish an aggregate of 16,500 maxi¬ 
mum indicated horse power. The main battery consists of six 8-inch 
and twelve rapid-firing 4-inch guns; her second battery of eight 6-pounder 
and four 1-pounder rapid-fire guns and four Gatlings. There are six 
above-water torpedo tubes; she has no sail power and carries two mili¬ 
tary masts with double fighting tops. Her armor is two to ten inches 
thick. 


14 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


The American Bison is interesting as the only living species of the 
ox family indigenous to America, except the musk ox of the subarctic 
regions. It is commonly called buffalo by Americans, but must be dis¬ 
tinguished from the true buffalo. The bison was within recent times 
very abundant in America, especially in the prairies beyond the Missis¬ 
sippi, and from 63° N. lat. to New Mexico. Now it is nearly extinct— 
a result of hard winters, cattle-ranching, railways and immigration. 

The Sons of Liberty was an association of the colonists of North 
America, called into existence in 1765 by Lord Grenville’s Stamp Act. 
The colonists combined to throw off allegiance to Great Britain and to 
make North America independent. The association began in New York 
and Connecticut. The term “ Sons of Liberty’ ’ was suggested by a speech 
of Colonel Barrd’s. The “Daughters of Liberty” mutually bound them¬ 
selves to drink no tea and wear no article of apparel imported from 
England while the import duties were unrepealed. 

When the Southern States were practically disfranchised after the 
Civil War, there grew up swarms of adventurers who went down to that 
section and organized the negro voters, got elected to all the chief offices, 
plundered the state treasuries, contracted huge state debts, and stole the 
proceeds. Government in the South Carolina and Mississippi states was 
a mere caricature. When, in 1876, President Hayes refused the “carpet¬ 
baggers’ ’ the protection of Federal troops, the regime fell to pieces, and 
the rule fell again into the hands of the resident whites. 

The Alien and Sedition Laws were passed by Congress June 25, 1798, 
empowering the President for two years to banish at his discretion the 
alien enemies of the Republic. This power was (July 6) enlarged by 
authorizing the President to apprehend and remove aliens. The Sedition 
Act, defining sedition, with heavy penalties for the offence, became law 
July 14. These statutes were principally directed against Frenchmen, 
when war between France, and the United States seemed imminent. The 
laws were bitterly opposed as undemocratic and were repealed when Jef¬ 
ferson came into power. 

What is called the affair of the “Trent,” took place on November 8, 
1861, when Captain Wilkes, of the Federal war steamer “San Jacinto,” 
boarded the Royal British packet “Trent,” and carried off Messrs. Mason 
and Slidell, Confederate commissioners and their secretaries, and con¬ 
veyed them to Boston. There were great rejoicings in the Northern 
States, and the thanks of Congress were voted to Captain Wilkes (De¬ 
cember 2); but the foreign envoys at Washington protested against his 
act, and a firm dispatch arrived from the British Government (December 
18), in consequence of which Messrs. Mason and Slidell and their secre¬ 
taries were released, and sailed for Europe (January 1, 1862). 

The Danites, or “destroying angels,” were a secret society founded 
by Joseph Smith in 1838, professedly merely for the defence of the Mor¬ 
mon sect against the mob. The members, originally some 300 in num¬ 
ber, were bound by an oath, under penalty of death, to sustain the “ first 
presidency” and one another in all things, whether right or wrong. 
They were divided into companies of fifties and tens, with suitable offi¬ 
cers and a general over the whole; special ‘ ‘ destruction companies ’ ’ were 
appointed for the purpose of burning and destroying, at first by way of 
reprisal; but afterwards assassinations, to fulfil prophecies of Smith’s, 
were laid to their charge. 


FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY 


15 


Wilmot Proviso is the name given to an amendment to a bill appro¬ 
priating $2,000,000 for the purchase of Mexican territory, moved (Aug. 
8, 1846) in the United States Congress by Mr. David Wilmot, Democrat, 
in the following terms: “That, as an express and fundamental condition 
to the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico by the 
. United States, neither slavery or involuntary servitude shall ever exist 
in any part of the said territory.” This proviso, adopted by the House 
of Representatives, rejected by the Senate, became the starting point for 
the “ Free-soil ” movement of 1848. 

“Pilgrim Fathers” is the name given to the one hundred and two 
Puritans who came to this country in 1620, in a ship called the “May¬ 
flower,” and colonized what are now the Northeastern States, called New 
England. This was the second English settlement in the New World, 
and was planted at New Plymouth, near Boston. The tyranny of the 
Ecclesiastical Commission in England raised up a host of dissenters, and 
in 1580 they chose John Robinson for their leader. Their independence 
soon drew upon them the heavy hand of the law, and they left the king¬ 
dom. The larger part settled at Leyden, in Holland, whence 102 of them 
came to America, and many others followed later. 

The Capital of the United States has been located at different times 
at the following places: At Philadelphia from Sept. 5, 1774, to Dec., 
1776; at Baltimore from Dec. 20, 1776, to March, 1777; at Philadelphia 
from March 4, 1777, to Sept., 1777; at Lancaster, Pa., from Sept. 27,1777, 
to Sept. 30, 1777; at York, Pa., from Sept. 30, 1777, to July, 1778; at 
Philadelphia from July 2, 1778, to June 30, 1783; at Princeton, N. J., 
June 30, 1783, to Nov. 20, 1783; Annapolis, Md., Nov. 26, 1783, to Nov. 30, 
1784; Trenton from Nov., 1784, to Jan., 1785; New York from Jan. 11, 1785, 
to 1790; then the seat of government was removed to Philadelphia, where 
it remained until 1800, since which time it has been in Washington. 

The “Alabama Question” was raised in the winter of 1862-63, when 
Mr. Seward declared that the Union held itself entitled to demand full 
compensation for the damages inflicted on American property; and the 
divergence of view more than once threatened to issue in the gravest 
consequences to both nations. In 1871 a commission met at Washing¬ 
ton ; and by a treaty concluded there, provision was made for referring 
this claim to a tribunal composed of five arbitrators, of whom the Queen, 
the President of the United States, the King of Italy, the President of 
the Swiss Confederation, and the Emperor of Brazil, were each to appoint 
one. The tribunal met at Geneva in December, 1871, and by its final 
award Great Britain was ordered to pay a sum of $15,000,000; this sum 
covering also some responsibility for the depredations of the ships 
‘ ‘Florida’ ’ and ‘ ‘Shenandoah. ’ ’ The claim for indirect damage to Ameri¬ 
can commerce was dropped. 

Vinland (“ Wineland ”) is the name given to the chief settlement of 
the early Norsemen in North America. It is undoubtedly represented in 
modern times by a part of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The first 
that saw it was Bjarne Heijulfson, who was driven thither by a storm in 
the summer of 986 a.d., when making a voyage from Iceland to Green¬ 
land, of which country his father, Herjulf, and Eric the Red were the 
earliest colonists. But Bjarne did not touch the land, which was first 
visited by Leif the Lucky,, a son of Eric the Red, about 1000 a.d. One 
part of the country he named Helluland (“Stoneland ”); another Mark- 
land (“Woodland”), the modern Newfoundland and Nova Scotia; a Ger- 



16 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


man in his company having found the grape (most probably the Vitis 
vulpina ) growing wild, as in his native country, Leif called the region 
Vinland. The natives from their dwarfish size they called skraelings. 
Two years afterward Leif’s brother, Thorwald, came, and in the summer 
of 1003 led an expedition along the coast of New England southwards, but 
was killed the year following in an encounter with the natives. The. 
most famous of the Norse explorers, however, was Thorfinn Karlsefne, 
an Icelander, who had married Gudrid, widow of Thorstein, a son of 
Eric the Red, and who in 1007 sailed from Greenland to Vinland with a 
crew of one hundred and sixty men, where he remained for three years, 
and then returned, after which no further attempts at colonization were 
made. 

Pocahontas, daughter of the Indian chief, Powhatan, born about 
1595, figures prominently in the travels of Captain John Smith, in con¬ 
nection with the part she played in the history of the early English col¬ 
onists in Virginia. The expedition under Captain Bartholomew Gosnold 
and others had landed in Chesapeake Bay in 1607. The James River w r as 
explored, and a settlement formed, but a great drawback was the lack of 
food-supplies. In one of the expeditions for food, and to explore the 
Chickahominy, Smith was taken prisoner, brought before the chief Pow¬ 
hatan, and his head laid on a stone preparatory to having his brains 
beaten out with clubs. At this juncture, Pocahontas, then a young girl, 
“when no entreaty could prevail, got his head in her arms, and laid her 
own upon his to save him from death.” 

The stars and stripes of the United States of America are said to 
have been suggested by the coat armorial of the Washington family, but 
it is hardly possible to reconcile this supposition with the actual history 
of the American flag. The earliest flag consisted of horizontal stripes, 
with the earlier British union device in the place which it occupies in 
the British ensign. Soon after the Declaration of Independence congress 
resolved that the flag of the United States should have thirteen stripes, 
alternately red and white, and that the British union device should be 
superseded by a blue field with thirteen white stars, the number both of 
stripes and of stars being correspondent to the number of States. In 1808 
it was enacted that the stripes should continue to be thirteen, that the 
stars should be twenty in number, there being then twenty States, and 
that a star should be added for every new State that came into the union. 

Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, is eighty-five miles by rail south¬ 
west of Louisville. The cave is about ten miles long; but it is said to 
require upwards of one hundred and fifty miles of traveling to explore 
its multitudinous avenues, chambers, grottoes, rivers and cataracts. 
The main cave is only four miles long, but it is from forty to three 
hundred feet wide, and rises in height to one hundred and twenty-five 
feet. Lucy’s Dome is three hundred feet high, the loftiest of the many 
vertical shafts that pierce through all the levels. Some avenues are 
covered with a continuous incrustation of the most beautiful crystals; 
stalactites and stalagmites abound. There are several lakes or rivers 
connected with Green River outside the cave, rising with the river, but 
subsiding more slowly, so that they are generally impassable for more 
than six months in the year. The largest is Echo River, three-fourths 
of a mile long, and in some places two hundred feet wide. The air of 
the cave is pure and healthful; the temperature remains constant 
at about 54°. 


FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


17 


The “Alabama” was a steamer built at Birkenhead, near Liverpool, 
England, by Messrs. Laird, for the Confederacy during the Civil War. 
In spite of the remonstrances of Mr. Adams, then United States min¬ 
ister to England, the “Alabama,” then known as the “No. 290,” was 
allowed to leave the Mersey. She obtained cannon and ammunition 
at the Azores, and hoisted the Confederate flag, with Captain (afterwards 
Admiral) Raphael Semmes in command. From this time, August, 1862, 
until June 19, 1864, when she was beaten and sunk in the English Channel 
by the United States warship “Kearsarge,” the “Alabama” carried on 
a career of privateering, closely approximating to piracy. She preyed 
on the American merchant marine, capturing and sinking or burning 
over sixty vessels and destroying $4,000,000 worth of property. No 
attempt was made to take the prizes into port for condemnation, and 
until she met the “Kearsarge” the rebel cruiser kept well out of the 
way of American war-ships. 

In the United States, under the Pre-emption Act of 1841, an actual 
settler on the public lands enjoys the right, in preference to any one else, 
of purchasing at a fixed price the land on which he has settled, to the 
extent of not more than one hundred and sixty acres. In the case of 
“offered” lands tfle settler must file his “declaratory statement” within 
thirty days after entry, and within a year proof must be made of settle¬ 
ment and cultivation, and the land thereupon paid for, at $1.25 per acre 
if outside the limits of a railroad grant, or $2.50 if within such limits. 
If the tract settled on is “unoffered,” an approved plan of the township 
must first be received at the district land office; the statement must then 
be filed within three months, and final proof and payment be made 
within thirty months thereafter. Title to land is thus obtained much 
sooner (possibly within six months) than under the homestead laws; but 
a homestead settler may at any time after six months purchase the land 
under the pre-emption laws; as, on the other hand, the holder of a pre¬ 
emption claim may convert it into a homestead. 


HISTORIC MINOR POLITICAL PARTIES. 

The minor American parties which have appeared and disappeared 
during our century and over of national life are the following: Anti- 
Renters, a New York party which flourished about 1841. They resisted 
the collection of back rents on the Van Rensselaer manor near Albany. 
They had strength enough to defeat Wright, the regular Democratic can¬ 
didate for Governor of New York. Barn-burners , New York, 1846, se- 
ceders from the Democratic party. They were opposed to slavery exten¬ 
sion. Bucktails, New York, about 1815; they supported Madison. 
Conservatives , New York and some other states, 1837; paper money 
Democrats. Doughfaces , 1820, Northern members of Congress, who 
voted in favor of the Missouri compromise. Hunkers , New York, a fac¬ 
tion of the Democrats favoring the South, the Barn-burners being the 
other factor. Know-Nothings , New York, 1854, opposed to naturaliza¬ 
tion of foreigners unless they had been twenty-one years in the country. 
Loco-Focos , New York, 1835; a branch of the Democratic party. Liberal 
Republicans , 1872; Republicans who joined with the Democrats in sup¬ 
port of Greeley for president. Temperance , or Prohibition, from 1830 
down, in many States; in favor of preventing or restricting the sale of 
liquors. Woman's Rights , from 1860 down; those who favored granting 
to women the right of suffrage. 

U. I—2 



18 


MANUAL OF USEFUL IN FORM A TION. 


PASSENGER LIST OF THE MAYFLOWER. 


The following is a complete list of the male passengers landed at 
Plymouth from the Mayflower: 


Isaac Allerton. 

Jno. Alden. 

Jno. Allerton. 
William Bradford. 
William Brewster 
John Billington. 
Peter Brown. 
Richard Britterage. 
John Carver. 
Francis Cook. 
James Chilton. 
John Crackston. 
Richard Clarke. 
Edward Dotey. 


Francis Eaton. 
Thomas English. 
Samuel Fuller. 

John Howland. 
Stephen Hopkins. 
Edward Leister. 
Christopher Martin. 
William Mullins. 
Edmund Margeson. 
Degony Priest. 
Thomas Rogers. 
John Rigdale. 
Edward Fuller. 
Moses Fletcher. 


John Goodman. 
Richard Gardiner. 
George Soule. 

Capt. Miles Standish 
Edward Tilly. 

John Tilly. 

Thomas Tinker. 
John Turner. 

Edward Winslow. 
William White. 
Richard Warren. 
Thomas Williams. 
Gilbert Winslow. 


Servants as follows: 


Carter. 

Cooper. 

Ely. 

Holbeck. 


Hooke. 

Langmore. 

Latham. 

Minter. 


More. 

Power. 

Sampson. 

Story. 


Thompson. 

Trevore 

Wilder. 


THE CLIMATES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Mean annual temperature, Fahrenheit, at places named: 


Alabama. 

Mobile. 

Alaska. 

Sitka. 

Arizona. 

Tucson. 

Arkansas. 

Little Rock. 

California. 

San Francisco. 

Colorado. 

Denver. 

Connecticut. 

Hartford. 

Dakota. 

Fort Randall. 

Delaware. 

Wilmington. 

District Columbia 

Washington. 

Florida. 

Jacksonville. 

Georgia. 

Atlanta . 

Idaho. 

Fort Boise. 

Illinois. 

Springfield. 

Indiana. 

Indianapolis. 

Indian Territory.. 

Fort Gibson . 

Iowa. 

Des Moines . 

Kansas. 

Leavenworth. 

Kentucky. 

Louisville. 

Louisiana. 

New Orleans. 

Maine. 

Augusta. 

Maryland. 

Baltimore. 

Massachusetts .... 

Boston. 

Michigan. 

Detroit. 

Minnesota. 

St Paul. 



66° 

1 Mississippi. 

Jackson. 

64° 

46 

Missouri. 

St. Louis. ,.. 

55 

69 

! Montana. 

Helena. 

43 

63 

(Nebraska. 

Omaha. 

49 

55 

! Nevada. 

C f p Winfield Scott 

56 

48 

New Hampshiie.. 

Concord.. 

46 

50 

New Jersey. 

Trenton. . .. 

53 

47 

New Mexico. 

Santa Fe. 

51 

53 

New York. 

Albany. 

48 

55 

North Carolina.... 

Raleigh./... 

59 

69 

Ohio. 

Columbus... 

53 

58 

Oregon . 

Portland. 

53 

52 

Pennsylvania. 

Harrisburg. 

54 

50 

Rhode Island. 

Providence. 

48 

51 

South Carolina.... 

Columbia. 

62 

60 

Tennessee. 

Nashville. 

58 

49 

Texas . 

Austin. 

67 

51 

Utah. 

Salt Lake City . .. 

52 

56 

Vermont. 

Montpelier. 

43 

69 

Virginia. 

Richmond. 

57 

45 

Washington Ter.. 

Steilacoom. 

51 

54 

West Virginia. 

Romney. 

52 

48 

Wisconsin. 

Madison. 

45 

47 

Wyoming. 

Fort Bridger.... 

41 

42 




HOW OUR COUNTRY GREW. 

The following gives the area of our country, and when and how the 


territory was acquired: 

Square Miles. 

Territory ceded by England in 1783.. 815.615 

Louisiana acquired from France in 1803. 930 928 

Florida acquired from Spain in 1821. 59.268 

Texas admitted into the Union in 1845.. 237,504 

Oregon, by treaty in 1846. 280,425 

California taken from Mexico in 1845 . 649,762 

Arizona, from Mexico by treaty in 1854. 27,500 

Alaska, from Russia by treaty in 1867. 577,390 


Total square miles.3,578,392 









































































































FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


19 


OUR STATE AND TERRITORIAL, CAPITALS. 

Alabama, Montgomery; Arizona, Phcenix; Arkansas, Little Rock; 
California, Sacramento; Colorado, Denver; Connecticut, Hartford; North 
Dakota, Bismarck; South Dakota, Pierre; Delaware, Dover; Florida, 
Tallahassee; Georgia, Atlanta; Idaho, Boise City; Illinois, Springfield; 
Indiana, Indianapolis; Indian Territory, Tahlequah; Iowa, Des Moines; 
Kansas, Topeka; Kentucky, Frankfort; Louisiana, Baton Rouge; Maine, 
Augusta; Maryland, Annapolis; Massachusetts, Boston; Michigan, Lans¬ 
ing; Minnesota, St. Paul; Mississippi, Jackson; Missouri, Jefferson City; 
Montana, Helena; Nebraska, Lincoln; Nevada, Carson City; New Hamp¬ 
shire, Concord; New Jersey, Trenton; New Mexico Territory, Santa Fe; 
New York, Albany; North Carolina, Raleigh; Ohio, Columbus; Oregon, 
Salem; Pennsylvania, Harrisburg; Rhode Island, Newport and Provi¬ 
dence; South Carolina, Columbia; Tennessee, Nashville; Texas, Austin; 
Utah Territory, Salt Lake City; Vermont, Montpelier; Virginia, Rich¬ 
mond; Washington, Olympia; West Virginia, Charleston; Wisconsin, 
Madison; Wyoming Territory, Cheyenne. 


THE INCREASE OF POPULATION BY DECADES. 


Natural. Immigration. Total per cent. 

l c 31-40 . 28.02 4.65 32.67 

1841-50 . 26.19 9.68 35 87 

1851-60 . 24.20 11 38 35.58 

1861-70. 15.38 7.25 22.63 

1871-80 . 22.18 7.29 30 07 


The increase of population since 1830 has averaged 32 per cent every 10 years. At 
this rate there would be eighty-eight millions in 1900. From 1880 to 1890 the increase 
was 24.87 per cent. 


POPULATION AND AREA CENTER. 

The center of area of the United States, excluding Alaska, is in North¬ 
ern Kansas, in approximate latitude 39° 55', and approximate longitude 
98° 50C The center of population is in latitude 39° 1U 56", and longi¬ 
tude 35° 32' 53", being about thiee-fourths of a degree south and more 
than seventeen degrees east of the center of area. The following table 
shows the movement of the center of population since 1790. 


YEAR. APPROXIMATE LOCATION. MILES WESTW'D. 

1790 23 miles east of Baltimore. Md. 

1800 18 nSiles west of Baltimore, Md.41 

1810 40 miles N. W. by W. Washington, D. C . 36 

1820 16 miles north of Woodstock, Va.50 

1830 19 miles W. S. W. Mooreville, W. Va. 39 

1840 16 miles south of Clarksburg, W. Va.55 

1850 23 miles S. E. of Parkersburg, W. Va. 55 

1860 20 miles south of Chillicothe, 0.81 

1870 48 miles E. by N. of Cincinnati, 0. 42 

1880 8 miles W. by S. of Cincinnati, O .58 

1890 20 miles east of Columbus, Ind.43 


FIGURES OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 

The last census of the United States, taken in 1890, and the results of 
which were announced in 1891, shows that we have a population of 62,- 
622,250. The census of 1880 counted 50,155,783, of whom 17,392,099 were 

earners. 

The combined wealth of the country in 1880 amounted to over $50,- 





















20 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


000,000,000—about $880 per head, or $2,600 per worker. Half of this 
was in lands and houses. This half was made up of farms, $10,197,000,- 
000; residence and business real estate, $9,881,000,000; public buildings, 
churches, etc., not taxed, $2,000,000,000. One-eighth was railroads ($5,- 
536,000,000); another eighth, household furniture and supplies, ($5,000,- 
000,000); the other quarter, live stock and farm tools, ($2,406,000,000); 
mines and quarries, ($781,000,000); telegraphs, ships and canals, ($419,- 
000,000); specie, $(612,000,000); miscellaneous ($650,000,000); and the stock 
of products and imports, ($6,160,000,000). 

The annual product or earnings of the nation are given by the cen¬ 
sus of 1880 as $8,500,000,000. One tenth of this is used on farms. The 
product is very unevenly divided. An even division would give about 
$450 per year to each earner, or less than 45 cents per day for each person. 
But it has been reckoned that in 1880 fifty persons had an average income 
of $1,000,000 each per year; 2,000, $100,000; 100,000, $10,000; a million, 
$1,000; 14,000,000 under $400 per year. 

The chief wastes are as follows: 

1. Drink. The “liquor bill” of this country, at the price paid dram¬ 
shops, is estimated at from $474,000,000 up, of which a large part is worse 
than waste. 

2. Fire. The loss by fire each year now exceeds $100,000,000, of 
which the $50,000,000 paid back by insurance companies is none the less 
loss. The expenses of insurance companies are $35,000,000 in addition, 
and for fire departments, $25,000,000 more. 

3. Crime and pauperism. The census reported 59,255 criminals in 
jail, and 67,067 paupers in poor-houses. These are by no means all. 
Their support costs over $12,500,000 per year, but the full loss by crime 
runs probably tow r ard fifty millions. 

4. Waste of food. We consume now about $500,000,000 worth of 
food, of which probably 10 per cent is wasted by extravagance, bad cook¬ 
ing, etc. 

5. Strikes and lack of employment. There were in one year (1880) 
762 strikes recorded, of which 226 are known to have resulted in a loss of 
$3,700,000 unearned w T ages. Still greater is the loss by lack of employ¬ 
ment for men willing to work. 


WHERE ILLITERACY PREVAILS. 

The United States compares very favorably with most of the Euro¬ 
pean countries in the method of education. The preponderance of illiter¬ 
ates in the Southern States is largely owing to the presence of a dense 
colored population. 

The 1880 census enumerates 36,761,607 persons of ten years of age 
and upward. Of this number 4,923,451, or 13.4 per cent., are returned as 
unable to read, and 6,239,958, or 17 per cent., as unable to write. The 
following States show over 40 per cent, of their population as unable to 
write. Alabama, 60; Florida, 43; Georgia, 50; Louisiana, 49; Mississippi, 
50; New Mexico, 65; North Carolina, 48; South Carolina, 55, and Vir¬ 
ginia, 41; and the following States with less than 5 per cent, unable to 
read: Connecticut, 4; Dakota, 3; Illinois, 4; Indiana, 5; Iowa, 2; Kansas, 
4; Maine, 4; Michigan, 4; Minnesota, 4; Montana, 5; Nebraska, 2 ]/ z \ New 
Hampshire, 4; New Jersey, 5; New York, 4; Ohio, 4; Oregon, 4; Penn¬ 
sylvania, 5; Utah, 5; Virginia, 5, and Wisconsin, 4. 



FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


21 


ORIGIN OF STATE NAMES. 

Alabama —Indian; meaning “Here we rest.” Arkansas —“Kansas,” 
the Indian name for “smoky water,” with the French prefix “arc,” bow 
or bend in the principal river. California—Caliente Fornalla , Spanish 
for “hot furnace,” in allusion to the climate. Colorado —Spanish; mean¬ 
ing “colored,” from the red color of the Colorado river. Connecticut — 
Indian; meaning; “long river.” Delaware— Named in honor of Lord 
Delaware. Florida —Named by Ponce de Leon, who discovered it in 
1512, on Easter Day, the Spanish Pascua de Flores, or “Feast of Flowers,” 
Georgia— In honor of George II. of England. Illinois —From the In¬ 
dian “illini,” men, and the French suffix “ois,” together signifying 
“tribe of men.” Indiana — Indian land. Iowa —Indian; meaning “beauti¬ 
ful land.” Kansas —Indian; meaning “smoky water.” Kentucky —In¬ 
dian; for “at the head of the river;” or “the dark and bloody ground.” 
Louisiana— In honor of Louis XIV. of France. Maine —From the prov¬ 
ince of Maine, in France. Maryland—In honor of Henrietta Maria, 
queen of Charles I. of England. Massachusetts —The place of the great 
hills (the blue hills southwest of Boston). Michigan —The Indian name 
for a fish weir. The lake was so called from the fancied resemblance of 
the lake to a fish trap. Minnesota— Indian; meaning “sky-tinted water. ” 
Mississippi— Indian; meaning “great father of waters. ” Missouri —In¬ 
dian; meaning “muddy.” Nebraska —Indian; meaning “water valley.” 
Nevada— Spanish; meaning “snow-covered,” alluding to the mountains. 
New Hampshire —From Hampshire county, England. New Jersey — 
In honor of Sir George Carteret, one of the original grantees, who had 
previously been governor of Jersey Island. New York — In honor of the 
Duke of York. North and South Carolina —Originally called Carolina, 
in honor of Charles IX. of P'rance. Ohio —Indian; meaning “beautiful 
river. Oregon— From the Spanish “oregano,” wild marjoram, which 
grows abundantly on the coast. Pennsylvania —Latin: meaning Penn’s 
woody land. Rhode Island— From a fancied resemblance to the island 
of Rhodes in the Mediterranean. Tennessee —Indian, meaning “river 
with the great bend.” Texas —Origin of this name is unknown. Ver¬ 
mont —French; meaning green mountain. Virginia— In honor of Eliza¬ 
beth, the “Virgin Queen.” Wisconsin— Indian; meaning “gathering of 
the waters,” or “wild rushing channel.” 


MOTTOES OF THE STATES. 

Arkansas—Regnantpopuli: The peoples rule. California — Eureka: 
I have found it. Colorado—Nil sine numine: Nothing without the Di¬ 
vinity. Connecticut—Qui transtulit sustinet: He who has transferred, 
sustains. Delaware —Liberty and Independence. Florida: —In God is 
our trust. Georgia —Wisdom, Justice, Moderation. Illinois— State 
Sovereignty and National Union. Iowa— Our liberties we prize, and our 
rights we will maintain. Kansas—Ad astra per aspera: To the stars 
through rugged ways. Kentucky —United we stand, divided we fall. 
Louisiana— Union and Confidence. Maine—Dirigo: I direct. Mary¬ 
land—Crescite et multiplicamini: Increase and multiply. Massachusetts 
Ense petit placid am sub liber tate quietem: By her sword she seeks under 
liberty a calm repose. Michigan—Si quczris peninsulam amcenam cir- 
cumspice : If thou seekest a beautiful peninsula, look around. Minne¬ 
sota — L'Etoile du Nord: The Star of the North. Missouri—Salus populi 
suprema lex esto: Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law. 



22 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Nebraska —Popular Sovereignty. Nevada—Volens et potens: Willing 
and able. New Jersey —Liberty and Independence. New York — Ex¬ 
celsior: Higher. Ohio—Imperium in imperio: An empire within an 
empire. Oregon—Alls volat propriis: She flies with her own wings. 
Pennsylvania —Virtue, Liberty, Independence. Rhode Island —Hope. 
South Carolina—Animis opibusque parati: Ready with our lives and 
property. Tennessee —Agriculture, Commerce. Vermont —Freedom and 
Unity. Virginia—Sic semper tyrannis\ So be it ever to tyrants. West 
Virginia— Montani semper liberi: The mountaineers are always free. 
Wisconsin —Forward. United States—E pluribus unum: From many, 
one. Annuit cceptis: God has favored the undertaking; Novus or do 
seculorum: A new order of ages. The first named on one side of the 
great seal, the other two on the reverse. 


NICKNAMES OF STATES, CITIES AND PEOPLE. 

Alabama, Cotton State; Arkansas, Toothpick and Bear State; Cali¬ 
fornia, Eureka and Golden State; Colorado, Centennial State; Connecti¬ 
cut, Land of Steady Habits, Freestone State and Nutmeg State; Dakota, 
Sioux State; Delaware, Uncle Sam’s Pocket Handkerchief and Blue Hen 
State, Florida, Everglade and Flowery State; Georgia, Empire State of 
the South; Idaho, Gem of the Mountains; Illinois, Prairie and Sucker 
State; Indiana, Hoosier State; Iowa, Hawkeye State; Kansas, Jayhawker 
State; Kentucky, Corn-cracker State; Louisiana, Creole State; Maine, 
Timber and Pine Tree State; Maryland, Monumental State; Massachu¬ 
setts, Old Bay State; Michigan, Wolverine and Peninsular State; Minne¬ 
sota, Gopher and North Star State; Mississippi, Eagle State; Missouri, 
Puke State; Nebraska, Antelope State; Nevada, Sage State; New Hamp¬ 
shire, Old Granite State; New Jersey, Blue State and New Spain; New 
Mexico, Vermin State; New York, Empire State; North Carolina, Rip 
Van Winkle, Old North and Turpentine State; Ohio, Buckeye State; 
Oregon, Pacific State; Pennsylvania,- Keystone, Iron and Oil State; 
Rhode Island, Plantation State and Little Rhody; South Carolina, Pal¬ 
metto State; Tennessee, Lion’s Den State; Texas, Lone Star State; Utah, 
Mormon State; Vermont, Green Mountain State; Virginia, Old Dominion; 
Wisconsin, Badger and Copper State. 

Atlanta, Gate City of the South, Baltimore, Monumental City; Ban¬ 
gor, Lumber City; Boston, Modern Athens, Literary Emporium, City of 
Notions, and Hub of the Universe; Brooklvn, Citv of Churches; Buffalo, 
Queen of the Lakes; Burlington (Iowa) Orchard'City; Charleston, Pal¬ 
metto City; Chicago, Prairie, or Garden City; Cincinnati, Queen of the 
West and Porkopolis; Cleveland, Forest City; Denver, City of the Plains; 
Detroit, City of the Straits; Hartford, Insurance City; Indianapolis, Rail¬ 
road City; Keokuk, Gate City; Lafayette, Star City; Leavenworth, Cot¬ 
tonwood City; Louisville, Falls City; Lowell, Spindle City; McGregor, 
Pocket City; Madison, Lake City; 'Milwaukee, Cream City; Nashville, 
Rock City; New Haven, Elm City; New Orleans, Crescent Citv; New 
York, Empire City, Commercial Emporium, Gotham, and Metropolis of 
America; Philadelphia, City of Brotherly Love, City of Penn, Quaker 
City, and Centennial City; Pittsburgh, Iron Citv and Smoky City; Port¬ 
land (Me.), Hill City; Providence, Roger Williams’ Citv, and Perry 
Davis’s Pain Killer; Raleigh, Oak City; Richmond (Va.), Cockade Citv; 
Richmond (Ind.), Quaker City of the West; Rochester, Aqueduct City; 
Salt Lake City, Mormon City; San Francisco, Golden Gate; Savannah’ 



FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


23 


Forest City of the South, Sheboygan, Evergreen City; St. Louis, Mound 
City; St. Paul, North Star City; Vicksburg, Key City; Washington, City 
of Magnificent Distances, and Federal City. 

Alabama, lizards; Arkansas, toothpicks; California, gold-hunters; 
Colorado, rovers; Connecticut, wooden nutmegs; Dakota, squatters; Dela¬ 
ware, muskrats; Florida, fly-up-the-creeks; Georgia, buzzards; Idaho, 
fortune-seekers; Illinois, suckers; Indiana, hoosiers; Iowa, hawkeyes; 
Kansas, jayhawkers; Kentucky, corn-crackers; Louisiana, creoles; Maine, 
foxes; Maryland, clam-humpers; Massachusetts, Yankees; Michigan, wol¬ 
verines; Minnesota, gophers; Mississippi, tadpoles; Missouri, pukes; Ne¬ 
braska, bugeaters; Nevada, sage-hens; New Hampshire, granite boys; 
New Jersey, blues, or clam-catchers; New Mexico, Spanish Indiafis; New 
York, Knickerbockers; North Carolina, tarheels; Ohio, buckeyes; Ore¬ 
gon, hard cases; Pennsylvania, pennamites, or leather-heads; Rhode 
Island, gunflints, South Carolina, weazles; Tennessee, whelps; Texas, 
beef-heads; Utah, polygamists; Vermont, green-mountain boys; Virginia, 
beagles; Wisconsin, badgers. 


NOTED NATIONAL NICKNAMES. 

Pupils in United States history and the general reader, who is at 
times puzled to know who is meant, will take interest in the following 
list: 


The Father of his Country. Washington. 


Old Man Eloquent.J. Q. Adams, 

The Sage of Monticello_Jefferson. 

Old Hickory.Jackson. 

Young Hickory.. Polk. 

Great Pacifier.Clay 

Mad Anthony. .Wayne. 

Old Rough and Ready.Taylor. 

Expounder of the Constitu¬ 
tion.Webster. 

Unconditional Surrender 

Grant. U. S. Grant. 

Poor Richard.Franklin. 

Political Meteor.Randolph. 

Little Mac.McClellan. 

Stonewall.T. J. Jackson. 

Honest Abe.Lincoln. 

Rock of Chickamauga.Thomas. 

Old Put .Putnam. 

Old Tecumseh.Sherman 

Light Horse Harry .Henry I.ec. 

Uncle Robert. R. E. Lee. 


Fighting Joe.Hooker. 

Bayard of the South.Marion. 

The Little Magician.Van Buren. 

Father of the Constitution .James Madison 

The Superb.Hancock. 

The Rail Splitter.Lincoln. 

Great American Commoner.Thad. Stevens. 

Old Ossawatomie.John Brown. 

Old Public Functionary... Jas. Buchanan. 

Carolina Game Cock .Sumter. 

Teacher President.Garfield. 

Father of Greenbacks.Salm’n P.Chase 

Little Giant. S. A. Douglas. 

Colossus of American Inde¬ 
pendence .John Adams. 

Sage of Chappaqua.Greeley. 

Prince of American Letters. W. Irving. 

Mill Boy of the Slashes.Clay. 

Pathfinder of the Rockies. .Fremont. 
Cincinnatus of the West—Washington. 

GreaF Indian Apostle.Eliot. 

Motoax.King Phillip 


WONDERS OF AMERICAN RAILROADING. 

1. There are in the United States 150,600 miles of railway—about 
half the mileage of the world. 2. The estimated cost is $9,000,000,000. 
3. The number of people employed by American railways is more than 
1,000,000. 4. The fastest time made by a train is 422 6-10 miles in 7 

hours, 23 minutes (443 minutes), one mile being made in 47 11-29 seconds, 
on the West Shore Railroad, New York. 5. The cost of a high-class 
eight-wheel passenger locomotive is $8,500.. 6. The longest mileage 
operated by a single system is about 8,000 miles. 7. The cost of a pal¬ 
ace sleeping car is about $15,000 or $17,000 if “vestibuled. ” 8. The 

longest railway bridge span in the United States is the Cantilever span in 
Poughkeepsie bridge—548 feet. 9. The highest railroad bridge in the 
United States is the Kinzua viaduct on the Erie road—305 feet high. 10. 



































24 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The first locomotive in the United States was built by Peter Cooper. 11. 
The road carrying the largest number of passengers is the Manhattan 
Elevated Railroad, New York -525,000 a day, or 191,625,000 yearly. 12. 
The average daily earning of an American locomotive is about $100. 13. 

The longest American railway tunnel is the Hoosac, on the Fitchburg 
railway— 4% miles. 14. The average cost of constructing a mile of rail¬ 
road at the present time is about $30,000. 15. The first sleeping-car was 

used upon the Cumberland Valley Railroad of Pennsylvania; from 1836 
to 1848. 16. The chances of fatal accident in railway travel are very 

slight - one killed in ten million. Statistics show more are killed by fall¬ 
ing out of windows than in railway accidents. 17. The line of railway 
extending farthest east and west is the Canadian Pacific, running from 
Quebec to the Pacific Ocean. 18. A steel rail, with average wear, lasts 
about eighteen years. 19. The road carrying the largest number of 
commuters is the Illinois Central at Chicago—4,828,128 commutation 
fares in 1887. 20. The fastest time made between Jersey City and San 

Francisco is 3 days, 7 hours, 39 minutes and 16 seconds. Special theat¬ 
rical train, June, 1876. 

Note. —Twenty-hour regular train service was established between 
New York and Chicago, May 28, 1893. Average speed throughout, 51 
miles. 


OUR COAL FIELDS. 

This country has an area of between three and four hundred thou¬ 
sand square miles of known coal fields, from which one million tons are 
mined yearly—enough to belt the earth at the equator with a ring five 
and a half feet thick by five and a half feet wide. The quantity “in 
sight” is estimated to be sufficient to supply the whole world for a period 
of fifteen hundred to two thousand years. 


IMMIGRATION INTO THE UNITED STATES, 1820-1892. 


Total Alien 
Year. Passengers. 

Year. 

Total Alien 
Passengers. 

1820. 

. 8,385 

1840. 

. 84.066 

1821. 

. 9,127 

1841. 

. 80*289 

1822. 

. 6,911 

1842. 

. 104,565 

1823. 

. 6.354 

1843. 

. 52,496 

1824. 

. 7,912 

1844. 

. 78,615 

1825. 

.10.199 

1845. 


1826. 

.10,837 

1846. 

. 154.416 

i827. 

. 18 875 

1847. 

. 234,968 

1828 

. 27.382 

1848. 

. 226.527 

1829. 

. 22.520 

1849. 

. 297,024 

1830.. 

. 23 322 

1850. 

..... 369,986 

1831. 

. 22,633 

1851. 

. 379,466 

1832. 

. 60,482 

1852. 

. 371,603 

1833. 

. 58 640 

1853. 


1834. 


1854. 

. 427,833 

1835. 

. 45,374 

1855. 

. 200.877 

1836. 

. 76,242 

1856. 

. 195.857 

1837. 

. 79,340 

1857. 

. 246.945 

1838. 

.38,914 

1858. 

.119,501 

1839. 

. 68.069 

1859. 

.118,616 


Year. 


Total 

Immigrants. 


1860. 

1861. 

1862. 

1863 . 

1864 . 

1865 . 

1866 . 

Fisc.Y’r end’g 

1867 . 

1868 . 

1869 . 

1870 . 

1871 . 

1872 . 

1873 . 

1874 . 

1875 . 

1876 . 

1877 . 

1878 . 


150,237 
89.724 
89.007 
174,524 
193.195 
247,453 
163.594 
Jun. 30 
298 967 
282,189 
352.569 
387,203 
321,350 
404,806 
459,803 
313,339 
227,498 
169.986 
141.857 
138.469 


Total 

Year. Immigrants. 

1879 . 177,826 

1880 . 457.257 

1881 . 669 421 

1882 . 788.992 

1883 . 603 322 

1884 . 5!8.5f2 

1885 . 395.346 

1886 . 334,2(*3 

1887 . 490,1*9 

1888 . 546.889 

1889 . 444,427 

1890 . 455.302 

891. 560,3 9 

1892 . 623,084 

Total ... *16,004,093 

From 1779 to 1820, 
estimated... 250,000 


* Immigrants from the British North American possessions and Mexico are not 
included since July 1, 1885. 

Of the whole number of immigrants in the fiscal year ending June 
30, 1891, 533,164 came through the customs district of New York; 41,- 



















































































FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


25 


995 through Baltimore; 36,149 through Boston; 28,120 through Phila¬ 
delphia, and 10,115 through San Francisco. 

The reported occupations of immigrants who arrived during the year 
ending June 30, 1890, were as follows: Laborers, 139,365; farmers, 29,296; 
servants, 28,625; carpenters, 3,776; miners, 3,745; clerks, 3,653; tailors’ 
3,879; shoemakers, 2,232; blacksmiths, 1,792. The total number of pro¬ 
fessional immigrants was 3,236; of skilled laborers, 44,540; of miscellan¬ 
eous, 211,756. 


NATIONALITY OF IMMIGRANTS DURING FORTY YEARS. 
(Compiled by the Superintendent of the Census.) 


Count r ins. 

1851 to 1860. 

1861 to 1870. 

1871 to 1880. 

1881 to 1890. 

England. 

Ireland. 

247,125 

914.119 

38.331 

6,319 

132.199 

1,338,093 

251,288 

456,593 

44 631 

4 642 
349.766 
1.106,970 

440,961 
444.? 89 

88 925 

fi 77Q 

649,052 

OQ1 

Scotland. 

Wales.. 

149,856 

11 QQO 

Great Britain, not specified . 

U, < i *7 

7,908 

989,163 

147 

1,466.426 

Total United Kingdom. 


Austria. 


9,398 

7.416 

69,558 

7,278 

34,577 

73,301 

757,698 

13,475 

60,830 

17,236 

226,488 

54.606 

226,020 

17,506 

83,108 

50,460 

1,452.952 

127.678 

307.095 

53 701 
560,483 
265, < 64 - 
5 564 
81,987 
22,770 
4.725,814 

Belgium. 

4,738 

Denmark.... . 

3,749 
76,358 
951 667 

17,885 

37,749 

822,007 

448 

France. 

Germany . 

Hungary.. 

Italy. 

9,231 

10,789 

20,931 

1.621 

12.892 

Netherlands. 

9,539 

Norway and Sweden.. 

Russia and Poland. 

117,798 

5,047 

9,047 

Spain and Portugal. 

10 353 

9,767 

31,722 

1.265 

Switzerland. 

25.011 

23,839 

234 

All other countries in Europe. 

116 

Total Europe. 

2,452,657 

2,180,399 

2,346,9"’4 


China . 

41,397 

68.059 

122.436 

59,995* 

Total Asia. . 

41,458 

68,444 

123,068 

63,932 


Africa. 

210 

324 

221 

375* 


Canada . 

Mexico. 

Central America. 

59.309 

3.078 

449 

184,713 

2,386 

96 

430.210 
5,164 
229 i 

392,802f 

l,913f 

South America. 

1,224 

10,660 

74,720 

1.443 

1.152 \ 

1,646 

West Indies. 

9 698 

14,461 

451,216 

26,487*$ 

422,848 

Total America. 

198,336 


All other countries . 

29,169 

19,249 

23,226 

25,759 


Aggregate. 

2.598.214 

2,466,752 

2,944,695 

5,238,728 


*Not given in 1890. ^Reports discontinued after 1885. ^Includes Central and South 
America for 1889. 

As the reports for British North American Provinces and for Mexico 
have been discontinued since 1885 by the Treasury Department, the 
figures here represented only cover five years of the decade. An esti¬ 
mate based upon the immigration of the years from 1881 to 1885, inclu¬ 
sive, would give 785,604 to British North America for the decade from 
1881 to 1890, and 3,826 to Mexico, making the aggregate for America 
817,563, instead of 422,848. 

Mulhall estimates the number of individuals who emigrated from 
Europe in 72 years, 1816 to 1888, at 27,205,000. Of these 15,000,000 came 
to the United States. 
































































26 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


GROWTH OF OUR FIFTY CHIEF CITIES. 



l! New York.... 

2 Chicago. 

3 J Philadelphia. 

4 Brooklyn.. .. 

5 St. Louis. 

6 Boston. 

7 Baltimore.... 

8 San Francisco 

9 Cincinnati.. . 

10 Cleveland .... 

11 Buffalo. 

12jNew Orleans. 

13 Pittsburg... . 

14 Washington .. 

15 Detroit. 

16 Milwaukee. . 

17 Newark. 

18 Minneapolis.. 

19 Jersey City... 

20 Louisville- 

21! Omaha. 

22 Rochester .. . 

23 St. Paul ... . 


24 

25 


Kansas City. 
Providence.. 


I 

Popula¬ 
tion, 1890 

1 

Rank. 

Popula¬ 
tion, 1880 

Rank. 

Cities. 

Popula¬ 
tion, 1890 

Rank. 

Popula¬ 
tion, ls80 

1,513,501 

1 

1,206,209 

26 

Indianapolis. 

107.445 

24 

75.050 

1,098,576 

4 

503,185 

27 

Denver. 

106,670 

49 

35.629 

1,044,894 

2 

847,170 

28 

Allegheny. 

104.967 

23 

78.682 

806,343 

3 

566.663 

29 

Albany. 

94,640 

21 

90,758 

450,245 

6 

350,518 

30 

Columbus. 

90,398 

33 

51 647 

446,507 

5 

362,839 

31 

Syracuse . 

88,387 

32 

51,192 

434,151 

7 

332.313 

32 

Worcester. 

84,536 

28 

58,291 

297,990 

9 

233.959 

33 

Scranton. 

83,450 

39 

45.850 

296 309 

8 

255,139 

34 

Toledo. 

82,652 

35 

50,137 

261,546 

11 

160.146 

35 

New Haven . 

81,451 

26 

62,882 

254,457 

13 

155,134 

36 

Richmond. 

80.838 

25 

63.600 

241.995 

10 

216,090 

37 

Paterson . 

78.358 

34 

51,031 

238,473 

12 

156,389 

38 Lowell.. 

77.605 

27 

59.475 

229,796 

14 

147,293 

39 

Nashville. 

76,309 

40 

43,3_0 

205.669 

18 

116,340 

40 

Fall River. 

74,351 

37 

48 961 

203,979 

19 

115,587 

41 

Cambridge. 

69.837 

31 

52.660 

181,518 

15 

136.508 

42 

Atlanta. 

65.514 

48 

37.409 

164.738 

38 

46,887 

43 

Memphis. 

64,586 

54 

33,592 

163,987 

17 

120,722 

44 

Grand Rapids.... 

64,147 

58 

32.016 

161.005 

16 

123,758 

45 

Wilmington. 

61,437 

42 

42,478 

139,526 

63 

30,518 

46 

T roy. 

60,605 

29 

56.747 

138.327 

22 

89,366 

47 

Reading. 

58,926 

41 

43,278 

133,154 

45 

41,473 

48 

Dayton. 

58.838 

47 

38,678 

132,416 

30 

55.785 

49 

Trenton. 

58,488 

64 

29,910 

132,043 

20 

104,857 

50 

Camden. 

58,274 

44 

41,6o9 





Totals . 

11.286.500 


7.750,715 


THE SUCCESSION OF THE PRESIDENTS. 



w 

f- 

> 

* 

a 

U 

z 

Inaug¬ 

urated 

t/i 


Name. 

Native 

Sta 

H 

tfl 

a 

V 

Z 

< 

a 

c 

W 

a 

« 

Year. 

X 

o 

<1 

u 

►-( 

h 

M 

a 

o 

Pm 

Place of Death. 

George Washington... 

Va .. 

English ... 

Va... 

1789 

57 

Fed.... 

Mount Vernon, 1799. 

John Adams. 

Mass. 

English.... 

Mass. 

1797 

62 

Fed.... 

Quincy, Mass., 1826. 

Thomas Jefferson. 

Va... 

Welsh. 

Va. . 

1801 

58 

Rep.... 

Monticello, Va., 1826. 

James Madison. 

Va.... 

English.... 

Va.... 

1809 

58 

Rep.... 

Montpelier, Va., 1836. 

James Monroe . 

Va.... 

Scotch. 

Va.... 

1817 

59 

Rep.... 

New York Citv. 1831. 

John Quincy Adams.. 

Mass. 

English ... 

Mass. 

1825 

58 

Rep.... 

Washington, 1848. 

Andrew Jackson. 

S. C.. 

Scot-Irish.. 

Tenn 

1839 

62 

Dem... 

Hermitage,Tenn., ’45. 

Martin Van Buren ... 

N. Y. 

Dutch. 

N. Y. 

1837 

55 

Dem. . 

Kinderhook,N.Y.,’ 62. 

William H. Harrison. 

Va ... 

English.... 

Ohio. 

1841 

58 

Whig.. 

Washington, 1841. 

John Tyler. 

Va.... 

English.... 

Va.... 

1841 

51 

Dem... 

Richmond. Va., 1862. 

James K. Polk. 

N.C.. 

Scot-Irish.. 

Tenn 

1845 

60 

Dem .. 

Nashville, Tenn.,1849. 

Zachary Taylor. 

Va... 

English.... 

La.... 

1849 

55 

Whig.. 

Washington. 1850. 

Millard. Fillmore. 

N. Y. 

English.... 

N. Y. 

1850 

50 

Whig.. 

Buffalo, N. Y„ 1876. 

Franklin Pierce. 

N. H. 

English.... 

N. H. 

1853 

49 

Dem... 

Concord, N. H., 1869. 

James Buchanan. 

Pa... 

Scot-Irish.. 

Pa.... 

1857 

60 

Dem... 

Wheatland, Pa.. 1868. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

Ky ... 

English.... 

Ill.... 

1861 

52 

Rep.... 

Washington, 1865. 

Andrew Johnson. 

N. C.. 

English.... 

Tenn 

1865 

57 

Ren.... 

Greenviiie, Tenn , ’75. 

Ulysses S. Grant. 

Ohio. 

Scotch. 

HI.... 

1869 

47 

Rep.... 

MtM’Gregor,N.Y.,’85. 

Rutherford B. Hayes.. 

Ohio. 

English.... 

Ohio. 

1877 

55 

Rep.... 

Cleveland, O., 1893. 

James A. Garfield. 

Ohio. 

English.... 

Ohio. 

1881 

49 

Rep.... 

Long Branch. 1881. 

Chester A. Arthur_ 

Vt.... 

Scot-Irish.. 

N. Y. 

1881 

51 

Rep.... 

New York City. 1886. 

Grover Cleveland . 

N J •. 
Ohio. 

English.... 
English.... 
English... 

N. Y. 

1885 

48 

Dem... 


Benjamin Harrison... 

Tnd. 

1889 

56 

Rep.... 


Grover Cleveland. 

N J.. 

N. Y. 

1893 

56 

Dem. .. 


















































































































FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


GENERALS COMMANDING THE U. S. ARMY. 



FROM 

TO 


FROM 

TO 

George Washington. 

Henry Knox. 

Josiah Harmer. 

Arthur St. Clair. 

James Wilkinson. 

George Washington___ 

James Wilkinson. 

Henry Dearborn . 

Jacob Brown. . 

1775 

1783 

1788 

1791 

1796 

1799 

1800 
1812 
1815 

1783 

1784 
1791 
1796 

1798 

1799 
1812 
1815 
1828 

Alexander Macomb. 

Winfield Scott. 

George B. McClellan. 

Henry W. Halleck 

Ulysses S. Grant. 

William T. Sherman. 

Philip H. Sheridan. 

John M. Schofield . 

1828 

1841 

1861 

1862 

1864 

1869 

1883 

18b8 

1841 

1861 

1862 

1864 

1869 

1883 

1888 


WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Statement of the Number of United States Troops Engaged. 


Wars. 


War of the Revolution. 

Northwestern Indian wars. 

War with France. 

War with Tripoli. 

Creek Indian war. 

War 1812 with Great Britian.... 

Seminole Indian war. 

Black Hawk Indian war. 

Cherokee disturbance or removal. 
Creek Indian war or disturbance. 

Florida Indian war. 

Aroostook disturbance.'.. 

War with Mexico. 

Apache, Navajo and Utah war... 

Seminole Indian war. 

Civil wart .. 


From. 

To, 

Regu¬ 

lars. 

MILITIA 
AND 

Volun¬ 

teers. 

Apr. 17,1775 
Sept 19,1790 
July 9,1798 
June 10 1801 
July 27,1813 

Apr. 11,1783 
Aug. 3,1793 
Sept 30,1800 
June 4,1805 
Aug. 9,1814 

130,711 

164,080 

600 

13,181 

June 18,1812 

Feb. 17,1815 

85,000 

471.622 

Nov. 20,1817 

Oct. 21,1818 

1,000 

6,911 

Apr. 21,1831 

Sept 31 1832 

1,339 

5.126 

1836 

1837 


9,494 

May 5, 1836 

Sept 30,1837 

935 

12.483 

Dec. 23,1825 

Aug. 14,1843 

11,169 

29,953 

1838 

1839 

1,500 

Apr. 14,1846 

July 4,1848 

30,954 

73,776 

1849 

1855 

1,500 

1,061 

1856 

1861 

1858 

1865 


3,687 


Total. 


309,181 
8,9f3 
*4,593 
*3,330 
13,7 1 
576,621 
7,911 
6,465 
9,494 
13,418 
41,122 
1.50 J 
112,230 
2,561 
2,687 
2,772,418 


*Naval forces engaged. tThe number of troops on the Confederate side was about 

600 . 000 . . . 

The number of casualities in the volunteer and regular armies in the 
United States, during the war of 1861-65, was reported by the Provost Mar¬ 
shal General in 1866: Killed in battle, 61,362; died of wounds, 34,727; 
died of disease, 183,287; total died, 279,376; total deserted, 199,105. 
Number of soldiers in the Confederate service who died of wounds 
or disease (partial statement), 133,821. Deserted (partial statement, 
104,428. Number of United States troops captured during the war, 
212,608; Confederate troops captured, 476,169. Number of United States 
troops paroled on the field, 16,431; Confederate troops paroled on the 
field, 248,599. Number of United States troops who died while prisoners, 
29,725; Confederate troops who died while prisoners, 26,774. 


GUIDE TO THE CIVIL SERVICE. 

The officials and clerks—over one hundred and twenty thousand in 
a ll._by whom the people’s business in the administration of government 
is carried on, constitute the Civil Service. About five thousand of these 
are appointed by the President, alone or with the consent of the Senate; 
about fifteen thousand under what is known as the “Civil Service Rules;” 
but the great body of officeholders is appointed by heads of departments. 

Those employed in the civil service have always been theoretically 



































































28 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 



entitled to serve “during good behavior,” but practically, until within a 
few years, their positions have depended upon their allegiance to the 
political party in power. 

In 1883 Congress passed a law for the improvement of the civil service 
of the United States. This act provides for the appointment by the Presi¬ 
dent of three commissioners to have general charge of filling the vacan¬ 
cies in the civil service department, and stipulates that the fitness of all 
applicants for all subordinate positions in the departments at Washington, 
and in all custom-houses and postoffices having as many as 50 office¬ 
holders, shall be tested by examinations, and the positions assigned with 
reference to the capacity, education and character of the applicants, 
regardless of political preferences. 

According to this, no absolute appointment to office can be made 
until the applicant has proven his or her ability to fill the position satis¬ 
factorily by six months’ service; no person habitually using intoxicating 
beverages to excess shall be appointed to, or retained in any office; no 
recommendation which may be given by any Senator or member of the 
House of Representatives, except as to character and residence, shall be 
considered by the examiners; men and women shall receive the same pay 
for the same work. 

The general competitive examinations for admission to the service 
are limited to the following subjects: 1. Orthography, penmanship and 
copying. 2. Arithmetic—fundamental rules, fractions and percentage. 

3. Interest, discount, and the elements of bookkeeping and of accounts- 

4. Elements of the English language, letter writing, and the proper con. 
struction of sentences. 5. Elements of the geography, history and 
government of the United States. 

A standing of 65 per cent, in the first three branches is necessary to 
qualify an applicant for appointment. Where special qualifications are 
necessary for specific work the examinations are adapted to test the 
knowledge of the applicant in that particular line. 

No applicant will be examined who cannot furnish proof that he is 
of good moral character and in good health. 

There is a board of examiners in each of the principal cities of the 
United States and several examinations are held each year. Applications 
must be made on the regular “application paper,” w r hich can be obtained 
of the commissioners, or any board of examiners. 

Several of the States have adopted the principles laid down in the 
civil service act and applied them to the State civil service, and it is prob¬ 
ably only a question of time when civil service reform will be consum¬ 
mated throughout the United States and the public service will thereby 
be rendered much more efficient. 

GOVERNMENT SALARY LIST. 

The salary of the President of the United States is $50,000 a year, the 
Vice-President, $8,000; Cabinet officers, $8,000. Senators receive $5,000 
and mileage. Congressmen, $5,000 and mileage. The Chief Justice of the 
Supreme Court receives $10,500; Associate Justices, $10,000. The dip¬ 
lomats get good pay; Ministers to Germany, Great Britain, France and 
Russia, $17,500; Ministers to Brazil, China, Austra-Hungary, Italy, 
Mexico, Japan and Spain, $12,000; Ministers to Chili, Peru and Central 
America, $10,000; Ministers to Argentine Confederation, Hawaiian 
Islands, Belgium, Hayti, Colombia, Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey and 


FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


29 


Venezuela, $7,500, Ministers to Switzerland, Denmark, Paraguay, Bolivia 
and Portugal, $5,000; Ministers to Liberia, $4,000. The heads of the 
Government departments receive: Superintendent of Bureau of Engrav¬ 
ing and Printing, $4,500; Public Printer, $4,500; Superintendent of Census 
$5,000; Superintendent of Naval Observatory, $5,000; Superintendent 
of the Signal Service, $4,000; Director of Geological Surveys, $6,000- 
Director of the Mint, $4,500; Commissioner of General Land Office, $4,000; 
Commissioner of Pensions, $3,600, Commissioner of Agriculture, $3,000; 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, $3,000; Commissioner of Education, 
$3,000; Commander of Marine Corps, $3,500; Superintendent of Coast and 
Geodetic Survey, $6,000. 

In 1893 the Ministers to Great Britain, Germany and France, were 
made Ambassadors without increase of pay. 

The pay of army officers is fixed as follows: General, $13,500; Lieut.- 
General, $11,000; Major-General, $7,500; Brigadier-General, $5,500; Colo¬ 
nel, $3,500; Lieutenant-Colonel, $3,000; Major, $2,500; Captain, mounted, 
$2,000; Captain, not mounted, $1,800; Regimental Adjutant, $1,800; 
Regimental Quartermaster, $1,800; 1st Lieutenant, mounted, $1,600; 1st 
Lieutenant, not mounted, $1,500; 2d Lieutenant, mounted, $1,500; 2d 
Lieutenant, not mounted, $1,400; Chaplain, $1,500. The navy salaries 
are: Admiral, $13,000; Vice-Admiral, $9,000; Rear-Admiral, $6,000; Com¬ 
modore, $5,000; Captain, $4,500; Commander, $3,500; Lieut.-Commander, 
$2,800; Lieutenant, $2,400; Master, $1,800; Ensign, $1,200; Midshipman, 
$1,000; Cadet Midshipman, $500; Mate, $900; Medical and Pay Director 
and Medical and Pay Inspector and Chief Engineer, $4,400; Fleet Sur¬ 
geon, Fleet Paymaster and Fleet Engineer, $4,400; Surgeon and Pay¬ 
master, $2,800; Chaplain, $2,500. 

WAYS AND WORK OF THE PATENT OFFICE. 

Applications for United States patents must be addressed to the Com¬ 
missioner of Patents, Washington, D.C., and signed and sworn to by the 
inventor. The invention must not have been in public use or on sale for 
more than two years prior to the application. The applicant must fully 
describe his invention and distinctly claim those parts which he believes 
to be new. The application must be illustrated with drawings when pos¬ 
sible. When filed, a first fee of $15 is payable, and a second fee of $20 is 
exacted if the application is allowed before the patent will be issued. The 
patent runs seventeen years from date of issue. Extensions can be obtained 
only by special act of Congress. A pamphlet of rules and forms is distributed 
free by the Commissioner of Patents. Suits to enjoin infringement of 
letters patent are brought by bill in equity in U. S. District or Circuit 
courts. The profits realized by an infringer can also be recovered. 

The total number of United States Patents granted up to and includ¬ 
ing Oct. 25, 1892, was 485,158. The average issue is about 25,000 a year. 
The average number of applications for patents is 40,000 a year. Since 
1881, the annual receipts of the Patent Office have exceeded $1,000,000. 
The figures for fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, were $1,268,727.35. The 
expenditures for the same year were $1,114,134.23. The total balance to 
the credit of the Patent Fund in the United States Treasury on June 30, 
1892, was $4,102,441.00. The two main items of expense are salaries, 
about $650,000, and printing and photo-lithographing, about $400,000 
annually. The Patent Office Library contains 60,000 volumes. The 
model hall has 154,000 models. The office does not require models now, 
except in special cases. 




30 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


UNITED STATES LAND MEASURE AND HOMESTEAD LAW. 

A township is thirty-six sections, each a mile square. A section is 
six hundred and forty acres. A quarter section, half a mile square, is one 
hundred and sixty acres. An eighth 
section, half a mile long, north and 
south, and a quarter of a mile wide, is 
eighty acres. A sixteenth section, a 
quarter of a mile square, is forty acres. 

The sections are all numbered 1 to 
36, commencing at northeast corner, 
thus: 

The sections are all divided in quar¬ 
ters, which are named by the cardinal 
points, as in section 1. The quarters 
are divided in 
the same way, 
as shown in the 
smaller dia¬ 
gram. The de¬ 
scription of a 

forty-acre lot would read: The south half of the 
west half of the south-west quarter of section 1 in 
township 24, north of range 7 west, or as the case 
might be; and sometimes w T ill fall short and some¬ 
times overrun the number of acres it is supposed 
to contain. 


ALIEN HOLDERS OF OUR LANDS. 

The following is a table of the leading alien holders of lands in the 
United States, with amount of holdings in acres: 


An English syndicate, No. 3 , in Texas. 3,000.000 

The Holland Land Company, New Mexico. 4,500,000 

Sir Edw. Reid and a syndicate, Florida. 2,000,000 

English syndicate in Mississippi. 1,800.000 

Marquis of Tweedale. 1,750,000 

Phillips, Marshall & Co., London. 1,300,000 

German-American syndicate, London. 750 000 

Bryan H. Evans, of London. 700 000 

Duke of Sutherland. 425,000 

British Land Company in Kansas. 320.000 

Wm. Wharley, M.P., Peterboro, England. 310.000 

Missouri Land Company. Edinburgh, Scotland. 300,000 

Robert Tennent, of London. 230,000 

Dundee Land Company, Scotland. 247,000 

Lord Dunmore.!. . 120,000 

Benjamin Neugas, Liverpool. 100.000 

Lord Houghton in Florida. 60,000 

Lord Dunraven in Colorado. 60,000 

English Land Company in Florida. 50,000 

English Land Company in Arkansas. 50,000 

Albert Peel, M.P., Leicestershire, England. 10,000 

Sir J*L. Kay, Yorkshire, England..♦. 5,000 

Alexander Grant, of London, in Kansas. 35.000 

English syndicate, Wisconsin. 110,000 

M. Ellerhauser, of Halifax, in W. Va. 600,000 

A Scotch syndicate in Florida. 500,000 

A. Boysen, Danish consul in Milwaukee. 50,000 

Missouri Land Company, of Edinburgh. 165,000 


Total.20,647,000 


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5 

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NWNE 

8W SE 

7 

8 

9 

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11 

12 

18 

17 

16 

15 

14 

13 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

£0 

29 

28 

27 

26 

25 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 












































































FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


31 


To these syndicate holdings should be added the following: The 
Arkansas Valley Company in Colorado, a foreign corporation, whose in¬ 
closures embrace upwards of 1,000,000 acres; the Prairie Cattle Company 
(Scotch) in Colorado, upwards of 1,000,000; H. H. Metcalf, River Bend 
Colorado,' 200,000; John W. Powers, Colorado, 200,000; McDaniel & 
Davis, Colorado, 75,000; Routchler & Lamb, Colorado, 40,000; J. W. 
Frank, Colorado, 40,000; Garnett & Langford, Colorado, 30,000; E. C. 
Tane, Colorado, 50,000; Leivesy Brothers, Colorado, 150,000; Vrooman & 
McFife, Colorado, 50,000; Beatty Brothers, Colorado, 40,000; Chick, 
Brown & Co., Colorado, 30,000; Reynolds Cattle Company, Colorado, 
50,000; several other cases in Colorado, embracing from 10,000 to 30,000; 
Coe & Carter, Nebraska, fifty miles of fence; J. W. Wilson, Nebraska, 
forty miles; J. W. Boster, twenty miles; William Humphrey, Nevada, 
thirty miles; Nelson & Son, Nevada, twenty-two miles; Kennebec Ranch, 
Nebraska, from 20,000 to 50,000 acres. 


PUBLIC LAND GRANTS AND FORFEITS. 


CANAL GRANTS. 

May 26, 1824, to June 30, 1891. 


Wisconsin, 

Michigan. 

Ohio. 

Indiana... 
Illinois 


ACRES. 

325,431 

1,250.000 

1,100,361 

1,457,366 

290,915 


Total 


4,424,073 


RIVER IMPROVEMENT GRANTS. 

From 1828 to June 30, 1891. 


Alabama. 400,016 

Wisconsin. 683.802 

Iowa. 322,392 


Total.1,406,210 

MILITARY WAGON ROADS. 

March 3, 1863, to June 30, 1891. 

Wisconsin. 302.930 

Michigan. 221.013 

Oregon.1,258,786 


Lands actually conveyed from 1850 to 
June 30, 1891, for railroad companies. 

ACRES. 


Illinois. 2.595,053 

Mississippi. 935.158 

Alabama . 2,931,780 

Florida. 1,764,412 

Louisiana. 1,908.059 

Arkansas. 2,552,344 

Missouri. 1.395,429 

Iowa. 4 709.759 

Michigan.. 3 *29.010 

Wisconsin. 3,056,011 

Minnesota. 8,206,714 

Kansas . 4,637.650 

Nebraska. 3,783.327 

Colorado. 209.232 

Wyoming. 159.437 

Utah. 116,298 

Nevada. 361.821 

California. 3,047.534 

Oregon. 322.062 

New Mexico. 23,037 

Arizona. 373,099 


Total 


1,782,729 


Total 


46,317,226 


Lands forfeited to U. S.—Lands forfeited by acts of Congress and re¬ 
stored to the public domain aggregate about 36,681,527 acres. 


TITLES TO THE PUBLIC LANDS—HOW ACQUIRED. 

The public lands of the United States still unsold and open to settle¬ 
ment are divided into two classes, one class being sold by the Govern¬ 
ment for $1.25 per acre as the minimum price, the other at $2.50 per 
acre, being the alternate sections reserved by the United States in land 
grants to railroads, etc. Such tracts are sold upon application to the 
Land Register. Heads of families, or citizens over twenty-one years, 
who may settle upon any quarter section (or one hundred and sixty acres) 
have the right under the pre-emption law of prior claim to purchase, on 
complying with the regulations. 

Under the homestead laws, any citizen, or intending citizen, has the 
right to one hundred and sixty acres of the $1.25 land, or eighty acres of 








































32 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


the $2.50 land, after an actual settlement and cultivation of the same for 
five years. Under the timber culture law, any settler who has cultivated 
for two years as much as five acres in trees of an eighty-acre homestead, 
or ten acres of a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, is entitled to 
a free patent for the land at the end of eight years. 


PUBLIC LANDS STILL VACANT IN THE UNITED STATES. 


ACRES. 

Alabama . 807,947 

Arizona. 54,608 531 

A rkanca? FvOQl SIR 

ACRES- 

Nebraska. 10,799,332 

Nevada. 42,385,734 

New Mexico. 54,720,863 

California. 50,132.241 

Colorado. 41,998 377 

Florida. m 2.8U6,587 

Idaho. 34,225.149 

Kansas 784,080 

North Dakota. 19,500,555 

Oklahoma. 6,324,863 

Oregon . 38,435,873 

South Dakota . 13,006,396 

Utah. 35,231.466 

Louisiana . 1,172,518 

Michigan .... 724,232 

Washington . 19,098,42) 

Wisconsin . 871,087 

Minnesota . 6,510,611 

Mississippi . 978.418 

Missouri . 808,799 

Montana . 74,558,143 

Wyoming . 52,055,248 

Total.567,586,783 


INDIANS AND THEIR RESERVATIONS. 


The entire extent of territory now in a state of reservation for Indian 
purposes, including all portions of the Indian Territory, whether in fact 
occupied or unoccupied by Indians, is 112,413,440 acres, being equiva¬ 
lent to an average of 456 acres for each Indian, computed on the last 
reported number of the total population, including those estimated as 
outside the reservations. Of this area about 81,020,129 acres are within 
the scope of the general allotment law of 1887, and afford an average for 
the population residing upon such lands, amounting to 173,985, of about 
465 acres to each. It will be seen that, by the execution of the general 
allotment law and breaking up of the reservations, a w T ide area of the 
public domain will be opened to settlement. 

The Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles, con¬ 
stituting the five civilized tribes; the Osages, Miamis, Peorias, and Sacs 
and Foxes of the Indian Territory, and the Seneca nation in New York, 
are excepted from the provisions of the allotment act. The territory 
occupied by them embraces 21,969,695 acres, not counting therewith the 
6,024,239 acres of the Cherokee outlet, the 1,887,801 acres known as 
Oklahoma, and the 1,511,576 acres lying in the Indian Territory south of 
the north fork of the Red River. The number of these excepted Indians 
is shown by the reports to be 72,110 in all. 


INDIANS IN UNITED STATES, 1890. 

Total number Indians in the United States, 249,273 (exclusive of 
Alaska, but including 32,567, taxed or taxable and self-sustaining, 
counted in general census). On reservations or at schools under control 
of Indian Office (not taxed or taxable), 133,382. Five Civilized Tribes, 
Indians and colored, incidentally under the Indian Office and self-sup¬ 
porting, 68,371 (Cherokee, 25,357, colored, 4,242, total, 29,599; Chicka¬ 
saw, 3,464, colored, 3,718, total, 7,182; Choctaw, 9,996, colored, 4,401, 
total, 14,397; Creek, 9,291, colored, 5,341, total, 14,632; Seminole, 2,539, 
colored, 22, total, 2,561); or 64,871, less 3,500 colored, estimated, not 
members of tribes. The Chickasaw nation contains 1,161 other Indians, 

































FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


33 


the Choctaw 257. Population of Five Civilized Tribes, 66,289 (Indians, 
52,065, colored Indian citizens and claimants, 14,224). New Mexico 
Pueblos, 8,278; Six Nations, Saint Regis and other New York Indians, 
5,304; North Carolina, Eastern Cherokees, 2,885. Apaches held as pris¬ 
oners of war, Mount Vernon barracks, 384, Indians in State or Territo¬ 
rial prisons, 184. 


SLAVERY AND SERFDOM: A COMPARISON. 

Some of the wealthy Romans had as many as 10,000 slaves. The 
minimum price fixed by the law of Rome was $80, but after great victo¬ 
ries they could sometimes be bought for a few shillings on the field of 
battle. The day’s wages of a Roman gardener were about sixteen cents, 
and his value about $300, while a blacksmith was valued at about $700, a 
cook at $2,000, an actress at $4,000 and a physician at $11,000. 

The number of slaves emancipated in the British Colonies in 1834 
was 780,993, the indemnity aggregating, in round figures, $100,000,000. 
In Brazil, in 1876, there were 1,510,800 slaves, 15 per cent, of the entire 
population. These were held by 41,000 owners, averaging 37 to each 
owner. In 1882 the number of slaves was 1,300,000. Owing to the 
gradual abolition of slavery in Brazil by law, it is expected that it will be 
entirely obsolete in 1900. 

SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. 


YEAR. 

1790.. 
1800 . 

1810.. 
1820,. 


NUMBER. 

. 697 90J 

. 893.040 

. 1,191,400 
. 1,538,100 


YEAR. NUMBER. 

1830 . 2,009,030 

1840.*. 2,487,500 

1850. 3.204,300 

1860 . 3,979,700 


SERFDOM IN RUSSIA. 

There were 47,932,000 serfs in Russia in 1861, as follows: Crown 
serfs, 22,851,000; appanage, 3,326,000; held by nobles, 21,755,000. The 
cost of redemption was, in round numbers, about $325,000,000, as follows: 

Mortgages remitted. $152,000,000 

Government scrip. 101.000,000 

Paid by serfs. 52,000,000 

Balance due. 20,000.000 

The indemnity to the nobles was $15 per serf. The lands are mort¬ 
gaged to the state till 1912. The lands ceded to Crown serfs are mort¬ 
gaged only till 1901. The item of “ mortgages remitted” is the amount 
due by nobles to the Imperial Bank and canceled. 


AUSTRIAN SERVITUDE (1840). 


VALUE. 

Labor (two days per week) .$175,000,000 

Tithe of crops, etc. 60,000,000 

Male tribute, timber. 7,000,000 

Female tribute, spun wool.»... 9,000.000 

Fowl, eggs, butter. 5,000,000 


Total. ...$256,000,000 


There were 7,000,000 serfs, whose tribute averaged more than $35 per 
head,.which was, in fact, the rent of their farms. Some Bohemian nobles 
had as many as 10,000 serfs. The redemption was effected by giving the 
nobles 5 per cent. Government scrip, and land then rose 50 per cent, in 
value. 


U I.—3 



























34 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


PUBLIC DEBT OF THE UNION. 


1855 July 1. $35,586,858.56 

1856 “ 31,972,537.90 

1857 “ 28.699,831.85 

1858 “ 44,911,881.03 

1859 “ 58.496,837.88 

1860 “ .'.. 64,842,287.88 

1861 “ 90,580,873.72 

1862 “ . 524 176,412.13 

1863 “ ....1,119,772,13863 

1864 “ 1,815,784,370.57 

1865 “ 2.680.647.869.74 

1866 “ 2,773.236,173.69 

1867 “ 2,678.126,103.87 

1868 “ 2,611,678.851.19 

1869 “ 2,588.452,213.94 

1870 “ 2,480,672,427.81 

1871 “ 2,353,211,332.32 

1890 Dec. 1. 


1872 July 1.... 

.$2,253 251.328.78 

1873 

Cl 

.2,234,482 993.20 

1874 

i ; 

. 2,251.690 468.43 

1875 

Cl 

. 2.232.284.531.95 

1876 

CC 

. 2.180 395.0 .7.15 

1877 

cc 

. 2.205.301,392.10 

1878 

cc 

. 2,256.203.892.53 

1879 

(C 

. 2,245,495.072.04 

1880 

cc 

. 2,120.415,370.63 

1881 

ic 

. 2.069,013.569.58 

1882 

cc 

. 1,918.312,994.03 

1883 

Cl 

. 1,884,171,728.07 

1884 

cc 

. 1,830.528,923.57 

1885 

CC 

. 1 876,424,275.14 

P86 

cc 

. 1,756,445,205.78 

1887 Dec. 1. 

. 1,664,461,516.38 

1888 

cc 

. 1,680,917,706.23 


1.547,296,426 00 


OFFICIAL, DEBT STATEMENT OF DECEMBER 1 , 1892 . 


INTEREST-BEARING DEBT. 


Funded loan of 1891. $25,364,500.00 

Funded loan of 1907. 559,592,050.00 

Refunding Certificates. 76 430.00 


Aggregate of Interest- 
bearing debt, exclusive 
of United States bonds 
issued to Pacific rail¬ 
roads .$585,032,980.00 

Debt on which Interest has 
Ceased since Maturity. 

Aggregate of debt on which 
interest has ceased since 
maturity. $2,432,015.26 

Debt Bearing no Interest. 

Legal-tender notes.$346,681.016.00 

Old demand notes,. 55,647.50 

National bank notes: 

Redempt on account_ 24,137,678.25 

Fractional currency: 

Less $8,375,934 estimated 
as lost or destroyed, 
act of June 21, 1879.... 6,903,462.62 


Aggregate of debt bear¬ 
ing no interest.$377,777,804.37 

Certificates and Notes Isshed on 
Deposits of Coin and Legal-Ten¬ 
der Notes and Purchases of Sil¬ 
ver Bullion. , 

Gold certificates .$142,821,639.00 

Silver certificates. 326,251,304.00 

Currency certificates. 8,500,000.00 

Treasury notes of 1890. 120,796,713 00 


Aggregate of certificates 
and Treasury notes, 
offset by cash in the 
Treasury.$598,369,656.00 


Classification of Debt December 
1. 1892. 


Interest-bearing debt. $585,032,980.00 

Debt on which interest has 
ceased since maturity... 2.432,015.26 
Debt bearing no interest.. 377,777 804.37 


-Aggregate of interest 
and non interest bear¬ 
ing debt. $965,242,799.63 

Certificates and Treasury 
notes offset by an equal 
amount of cash in the 

Treasury. 598,369,656.00 

Aggregate of debt, in- 
c uding certificates 


and Treasury notes. $1,563,612,455.63 


Cash in the Treasury. 
Gold certifi 

cates.$142,821,039.00 

Silver certifi¬ 
cates. 326,251,304.00 


Currency cer¬ 
tificates. ... 
Treas’v notes 
of 1890. 


Fund for re¬ 
demption of 
uncur rent 
Nation a 1 
bank notes.. 
Outstanding 
checks and 

drafts. 

Disbu rsing 
officers’ bal¬ 
ances. 

Agency ac¬ 
counts, etc. 


8.500,000.00 
120,796,713 00 


$5,855,215.24 

4,822, 65.98 

22,7:6,939.77 
3,281,906 86 


$598,369,556.00 

36,776.227 85 

130,328,918.50 


Gold reserve. $100,000,000.00 
Net cash bal¬ 
ance . 30,328 918.50 


Total. ... 

Cash balance in the Treas¬ 
ury, November 30, 1891.. 


$765,474,802.35 

$130,328,918.50 






































































FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


35 


ARMIES OF THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-65. 


Number of men in the Union Army, furnished by each state and 
territory, from April 15, 1861, to close of war. 


STATES AND 
TERRITORIES. 

NUMBER 
OF MEN 

furnish’d 

AGG’GATE 

REDUCED 

TOATHREE 

YEARS’ 

STANDING. 

Alabama. 

2,556 

1.611 

Arkansas. 

8.289 

7,836 

California. 

15,725 

15,725 

Colorado. 

4,903 

3,697 

Connecticut. 

55,864 

50.623 

Delaware. 

12.284 

10,322 

Florida. 

Georgia. 

1,290 

1,290 

Illinois. 

259.092 

214.133 

Indiana. 

196,363 

153.576 

Iowa. 

76 242 

68.630 

Kansas. 

20.149 

18.706 

Kentucky. 

75,760 

70,832 

Louisiana. 

5,224 

4/54 

Maine. 

70.107 

56.776 

Maryland. 

46,638 

41.275 

Massachusetts. 

146,730 

124.104 

Michigan. 

87,364 

80.111 

Minnesota. 

24,020 

19,693 

Mississippi. 

545 

545 

Missouri. 

109,111 

86.530 

Nebraska. 

3,157 

2.175 

Nevada. 

1.080 

1.080 

New Hampshire... 

33,937 

30.849 

New Jersey. 

76,814 

57,908 


AGG’GATE 


states and 
TERRITORIES. 

NUMBER 
OF MEN 
FURNISH’D 

REDUCED 
TOATHREE 
VE/iRS 1 
STANDI VG. 

New York. 

4-18,850 

392.270 

3,156 

240,514 

1.773 

265,517 

17,866 

North Carolina... 
Ohio. 

3,156 

313,180 

1 810 
337.936 
23,236 

Oregon. 

Pennsylvania. 

Rhode Island. 

South Carolina ... 

Tennessee. 

31.092 
1,965 
33,288 

26,394 

1,632 

29,068 

Texas. 

Vermont. 

Virginia. 

West Virginia. 

Wisconsin. 

32.068 

9l’327 

27,714 

79,260 

206 

11.506 

3,530 

Dakota. 

i06 

Dist. of Columbia. 
Indian Te ntory.. 
Montana. 

16 534 
3,530 

New Mexico. 

Utah. 

6.561 

4,432 

Washington Ter... 
U. S. Army. 

964 

964 

U. S. Volunteers .. 



U.S. colored troops 

93,441 • 

91,789 

Total. 

2,772,408 

2.320.272 


The armies of the United States were commanded during the war of 
the Rebellion by President Lincoln as commander-in-chief under the con¬ 
stitutional provision; and under him, as general commanders, by Brevet 
Lieutenant General Winfield Scott until November 6, 1861; by Major 
General George B. McClellan from November 6, 1861, to March 11, 1862; 
by Major General Henry W. Halleck from July 11, 1862, to March 12, 
1864 (there being no general commander between March 11 and July 11, 
1862); and Lieutenant General and General U. S. Grant from March 12, 
1864, to March 4, 1869. The first of the principal armies into which 
the force of the United States was divided was the Army of the Potomac. 
This army was called into existence in July, 1861, and was organized by 
Major General George B. McClellan, its first commander; November 5, 

1862, Major General A. E. Burnside took command of it; January 25, 

1863, Major General Joe Hooker was placed in command, and June 27, 
1863, Major General George G. Meade succeeded him. The Army of the 
Ohio was organized by General D. C. Buell, under a general order from 
the War Department dated November 9, 1861, from troops in the military 
department of the Ohio. General Buell remained in command until Oc¬ 
tober 30, 1862, when he was succeeded by General W. S. Rosecrans. At 
this time the Army of the Ohio became the Army of the Cumberland and 
a new department of the Ohio was formed and Major General H. G. Wright, 
assigned to the command thereof. He w r as succeeded by Major General 
Burnside, who was relieved by Major General J. G. Foster of the com¬ 
mand of both department and army. Major General Schofield took com¬ 
mand January 28, 1864, and January 17, 1865, the department was merged 



























































36 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


into the Department of the Cumberland. It continued under the com¬ 
mand of General Rosecrans until October, 1863, when General George 
H. Thomas took command of it. The Army of the Tennessee was origi¬ 
nally the Army of the District of Western Tennessee, fighting as such at 
Shiloh. It became the Army of the Tennessee on the concentration of 
troops at Pittsburgh Lauding under General Halleck, and when the De¬ 
partment of the Tennessee was formed, October 16, 1862, the troops serv¬ 
ing therein were placed under command of Major General U. S. Grant. 
October 27, 1863, Major General William T. Sherman was appointed to 
the command of this army; March 12, 1864, Major General J. B. McPher¬ 
son succeeded him; July 30, 1864, McPherson having been killed, Major 
General O. O. Howard was placed in command, and May 19, 1862, Major 
General John A. Logan succeeded him. Other minor armies were the 
Army of Virginia, w T hich was formed by the consolidation of the forces 
under Major Generals Fremont, Banks and McDowell, by order of the 
War Department, August 12, 1862. Major General John Pope was placed 
in command, but after the disastrous defeat of this general at Manassas 
the army as such was discontinued and its troops transferred to other or¬ 
ganizations. The Army of the James was formed of the Tenth and Four¬ 
teenth corps with cavalry, and was placed under the command of Major 
General Butler. Its operations were carried on in conjunction with the 
Army of the Potomac. Other temporary arrangements of the troops 
formed the Army of the Mississippi in the Mississippi River operations 
in 1862; the Army of the Gulf in Louisiana in May, 1863; the Army of 
West Virginia, in the valley of the Shenandoah, in May, 1864; and the 
army of the Middle Military Division in Virginia in the fall of 1864. 


THE WORLD’S FAIR IN A NUTSHELL. 

The World’s Columbian Exposition, or the World’s Fair, was created 
by an act of Congress, approved April 25, 1890, entitled “An act to pro¬ 
vide for celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of 
America by Christopher Columbus, by holding an international exhibi¬ 
tion of arts, industries, manufactures, and the product of the soil, mine 
and sea, in the city of Chicago, in the State of Illinois.” 

The act provided for the appointment of commissioners, who should 
organize the Exposition, and when these preliminaries were completed 
the President was required to make a public proclamation of the fact and 
officially invite “all the nations of the earth” to participate in the Expo¬ 
sition. This proclamation was issued December 24, 1890. 

The dedication ceremonies took place October 21, 1892, and the days 
preceding and following, the President of the United States being repre¬ 
sented by the Vice-President, who, accompanied by the Cabinet and 
many prominent officers of the Government, army and navy, and dis¬ 
tinguished citizens, officially dedicated the Exposition. 

Immediately upon the completion of these ceremonies the installing 
of the exhibits began. 

The great Exposition was opened to the public on May 1, 1893, and 
will continue open until October 30 following. The admission fee is 
placed at 50 cents. 

The total cost of the Exposition, from its beginning to its close, is 
estimated at $25,000,000. 

THE LOCATION OF THE GREAT FAIR. 

So far as visitors to the Fair are concerned, the location of the 



FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


37 


grounds upon which the main buildings stand is a favorable one. Jack- 
son Park and Midway Plaisance, the Exposition site, are in the south¬ 
eastern part of the city of Chicago. The two together embrace six hun¬ 
dred and thirty-three acres, attractively situated on the shore of Lake 
Michigan, the park front being a mile and a half long from northwest to 
southeast. 


THE EXPOSITION BUILDINGS. 


Buildings. 

Dimensions 
in Feet. 

Area in 
Acres.* 

Approximate 

Cost. 

Art Galleries. 

320 x 

500 

4.6 | 

$670,500 

224,750 

Art Annexes. 

Fisheries. 

136 x 
162.1 x 

220 

561.1 

1.4 f 
1.4 | 

Fisheries Annexes. 

135 diameter. 

7 ( 

Manufactures. 

787 x 1.687 

44 

1,600,750 

691,500 

Agriculture... 

500 x 

800 

15 I 

Agriculture Annex. . 

312 x 

550.5 

4 J 

Machinery. 

494 x 

842 

17 1 

1,050,750 

Machinery Annex. 

490 x 

551 

62 [ 

Machinery, Machine Shop and Boiler House.... 
Administration. 

86 x 1,103.6 
262 x 262 

2.2 

4.5 

75,000 

436,500 

.Electricity. 

345 x 

690 

9.3 

413,500 

Mines. 

350 x 

700 

8.5 

266,500 

369,000 

Transportation. 

256 x 

960 

9.4 1 

Transportation Annex. 

435 x 

850 

8.5 f 

Horticulture. 

250.8 X 

997.8 

8 

287,000 

138,000 

"Woman’s. 

198 8 x 

398 

3.3 

Forestry. 

208 x 

528 

2.6 

90,250 

Leather . 

150 x 

625 

4.3 

100,000 

Dairy. 

94.1 x 

199.8 

.8 

30,000 

Qo win ill ... 

60 x 

100 

.2 

35,000 

Stock Pavilion . 

265 x 

960 

5.8 

125,000 

Stock Sheds. 


25 

210,000 

1,203,000 

400,000 

Other Buildings^— Music Hall, Choral Hall, Ca¬ 
sino, Indian School, Education Building. ‘La 
Rabida,” Merchant Tailors. Assembly Hall, 

f^eaanliruiCO POTITPr TTOIIQP pt P. 


22 3 

VjiCCiiiiuuoCj rowci iiouov, .. 

United States Government Building. . . 

351 x 

421 

6.2 

Tmitotinn RAttlp^hit"> ... 

69.25 x 

348 

.6 

100,000 

Tllinoic RllildinfT . 

160 x 

450 

3.2 

250,000 

ctnfa out! I?Arpiofi P ii i 1 c\ i n crQ ( DT) TO X1 HI H10 ) . 


12 

2 ,000.000 

1,500,000 

btate ana Foreign Dunuiuga oaiuiqi'. / . 

AfiVixxrax? pi a ica npp Puddings f approximate ). 


9 

lYL 1 cl Wd V a IdlScUiLC Aiuiiuiugo \ w r r /. 







240 

$12,267,000 


*Floor space and including galleries. 


MANUFACTURES and liberal ARTS BUILDING. 

The principal building in point of area and importance is that of 
Manufactures and Liberal Arts, a mammoth structure, measuring 1,687 
to 1,787 feet and covering 44 acres—the largest exposition structure ever 
built. It cost $1,600,750. 

state buildings. 

Nearly all the States and Territories of the United States have made 
appropriations toward the expense of special exhibits at the Exposition, 
and most of them have characteristic buildings in the grounds. The New 
York and Illinois buildings are conspicuously fine. 

foreign countries. 

The following are the countries which have received allotments: 
Argentine Republic, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, 
China, Colombia, Corea, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, Ecuador, 
France and its provinces, Great Britain and all the British Colonies, 
Greece, Guatemala, Hawaiian Islands, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, 
Japan, Liberia, Mexico, Madagascar, Netherlands and colonies, Nica- 












































38 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


ragua, Norway, Paraguay, Persia, Peru, Russia, Salvador, Santo Domingo, 
Servia, Siam, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay and Venezuela. 

Of these the following countries have independent Government 
buildings: Austria, Canada, Ceylon, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecua¬ 
dor, France, Great Britain, Guatemala, Haiti, Italy, Japan, Nicaragua, 
Norway, Russia, Sweden and Turkey. 

THE MIDWAY PLAISANCE SHOWS. 

The Midway Plaisance, which is a great tract lying between 59th and 
60th streets, extending east and west, contains the principal “sideshows,” 
some of which are of both an unique and elaborate character. Among 
these are the Ferris Wheel, over 250 feet high, Bohemian Glass Factory, 
Japanese Bazaars, the Animal shows, Dutch Settlement, German Village, 
Natatorium, Panorama of the Bernese Alps, Turkish Village, Minaret 
Tower, Moorish Palace, Street in Cairo, Chinese Theater, Captive Balloon, 
Indian Village, Roman House, Chinese Tea House, Barre Sliding Rail¬ 
way, Ice Railway, etc. 

TRANSPORTATION. 

Means of easy and rapid transportation from all parts of Chicago and 
from railroad stations to the Exposition are provided. The steam, elec¬ 
tric, cable and horse railroads and the elevated railroad convey passen¬ 
gers by land to the principal entrances, and numerous steamboats ply 
between the city and the great pier on the water side of the grounds. 

In the extreme south part of the grounds the stock exhibit, under 
sheds covering forty acres, is located. 

During the Exposition there are restaurants and dining-rooms in all 
the main buildings, a luncheon place in the Dairy Building and a rail¬ 
road luncheon counter in the Transportation Building. 

GOVERNMENT. * 

The following are the officers of the “World’s Columbian Com¬ 
mission: ” 

President , Thomas W. Palmer \ . Secretary, John T. Dickinson; 
Director-General , George R. Davis. 

Department Chiefs. —Agriculture, W I. Buchanan; Horticulture, 
John M. Samuels; Live Stock, Eber W. Cottrell; Fish and Fisheries, 
John W. Collins; Mines and Mining, F. J. V Skiff; Machinery, L. W. 
Robinson; Transportation, W. A. Smith; Manufactures, James Allison; 
Electricity, John P. Barrett; Fine Arts, Halsey C. Ives; Liberal Arts, 
S. H. Peabody; Ethnology, F. W. Putnam; Forestry, W. I. Buchanan, 
in charge; Publicity and Promotion, Moses P. Handy; Foreign Affairs, 
Walker Fearn; Secretary of Installation, Joseph Hirst; Traffic Manager, 
E. E. Jay cox. 

There are eight commissioners at large and two from each State and 
Territory and the District of Columbia. There are the same number of 
lady managers. 

President of the Board of Lady Managers, Mrs. Potter Palmer; Sec¬ 
retary , Mrs. Susan Gale Cook. 

The officers of the World’s Columbian Exposition are as follows: 

President , H. N. Higinbotham; Secretary , H. O. Edmonds; Treas 
urer, A. F. Seeberger; Auditor, William K. Ackerman; Chief of Con¬ 
struction, D. H. Burnham. 

WORLD’S CONGRESS AUXILIARY. 

A series of world’s congresses in all departments of thought are a 
feature during the Exposition season. This work is divided into seven¬ 
teen great departments, as follows: Agriculture, Art, Commerce and 


FACTS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. 


39 


Finance, Education, Engineering, Government, Literature, Labor, Medi¬ 
cine, Moral and Social Reform, Music, Public Press, Religion, Science 
and Philosophy, Temperance, Sunday Rest, and a General Department, 
embracing congresses not otherwise assigned. These general depart¬ 
ments have been divided into more than one hundred divisions, in each 
of which a congress is to be held. Each division has its own local com¬ 
mittee of arrangements. 

Representative men from all parts of the world take part in these 
gatherings. They assemble for the most part in the Art Institute. The 
officers of the Auxiliary are Charles C. Bonney, President; Thomas B. 
Bryan, Vice-President; Lyman J. Gage, Treasurer; Benjamin Butter- 
worth, Secretary. 

ESSENCE OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Congress must meet at least once a year. 

One State cannot undo the acts of another. 

Congress may admit as many new States as desired. 

One State must respect the laws and legal decisions of another. 

The Constitution guarantees every citizen a speedy trial by jury. 

Congress cannot pass a law to punish a crime already committed. 

A State cannot exercise a power which is vested in Congress alone. 

Bills for revenue can originate only in the House of Representatives. 

A,person committing a felony in one State cannot find refuge in 
another. 

United States Senators are chosen by the legislatures of the States by 

joint ballot. 

The Constitution of the United States forbids excessive bail or cruel 
punishment. 

When Congress passes a bankruptcy law it annuls all the State laws 
on that subject. 

Treaties with foreign countries are made by the President and rati¬ 
fied by the Senate. 

In the United States Senate Rhode Island or Nevada has an equal 
voice with New York. 

Writing alone does not constitute treason against the United States. 
There must be an overt act. 

Congress cannot lay any disabilities on the children of a person con¬ 
victed of crime or misdemeanor. 

The Territories each send a delegate to Congress, who has the right 
of debate, but not the right to vote. 

The Vice-President, who ex-officio presides over the Senate, has no 
vote in that body except on a tie ballot. 

An act of Congress cannot become a law over the President’s veto 
^xcept on a two-thirds vote of both houses. 

An officer of the Government cannot accept title of nobility, order or 
honor without the permission of Congress. 

Money lost in the mails cannot be recovered from the Government. 
Registering a letter does not insure its contents. 



40 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


It is the House of Representatives that may- impeach the President 
for any crime, and the Senate hears the accusation. 

If the President holds a bill longer than ten days while Congress is 
still in session, it becomes a law without his signature. 

Silver coin of denominations less than $1 is not a legal tender for 
more than $5.00. Copper and nickel coin is not legal tender. 

The term of a Congressman is two years, but a Congressman may be 
re-elected to as many successive terms as his constituents may wish. 

Amendments to the Constitution require a two-thirds vote of each 
house of Congress and must be ratified by at least three-fourths of the 
States. 

When the militia is called out in the sendee of the General Govern¬ 
ment, they pass out of the control of the various States under the com¬ 
mand of the President. 

The President of the United States must be thirty-five years of age; 
a United States Senator, thirty; a Congressman, twenty-five. The Presi¬ 
dent must have been a resident of the United States fourteen years. 

A grand jury is a secret tribunal, and may hear only one side of a 
case. It simply decides whether there is good reason to hold for trial. 
It consists of twenty-four men, twelve of whom may indict. 

A naturalized citizen cannot become President or Vice-President of 
the United States. A male child born abroad of American parents has 
an equal chance to become President with one born on American soil. 


A DOZEN AMERICAN WONDERS. 

Croton Aqueduct, in New York City. 

City Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The largest park in the 
w r orld. 

Lake Superior, the largest lake in the world. 

Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky. 

Niagara Falls. A sheet of water three-quarters of a mile wide, with 
a fall of 175 feet. 

Natural Bridge, over Cedar Creek, in Virginia. 

New State Capitol, at Albany, N. Y. 

New York and Brooklyn Bridge. 

The Central Park, in New York City. 

Washington Monument, Washington, D. C., 555 feet high. 

Yosemite Valley, California; 57 miles from Coulterville. A valley 
from 8 to 10 miles long, and about one mile wide. Has very steep slopes 
about 3,500 feet high; has a perpendicular precipice 3,089 feet high; a 
rock almost perpendicular, 3,270 feet high; and waterfalls from 700’to 
1,000 feet. 

Jackson Park, Chicago, wfith the World’s Columbian Fair of 1893. 


THE AMERICAN NOBILITY. 

Whoe’er amidst the sons 
Of reason, valor, liberty, and virtue 
Displays distinguished merit, is a noble 
Of Nature’s own creating. 


Thomson. 




TIME AND ITS LANDMARKS. 


Time’s the king- of men— 

For he’s their parent, and he is their grave, 

And gives them what he will, not what they crave. 

—Shakspeare. 

DATES AND FACTS TO REMEMBER. 

Twenty-four hour clock time is gaining in favor. 

Fifteen degress of longitude represent one hour of time. 

All over Western Canada 4 p. m. is called “sixteen o’clock.” 

The axial rotation of the earth is the measure of time everywhere. 

The astronomers of Egypt were the first to give names to the days. 

It takes just one second of time for electricity to travel 288,000 
miles. 

Fenelon says suggestively: “God never gives us two moments to¬ 
gether.” 

A vessel sailing eastwards across the Pacific has two consecutive 
days of the same name and date. 

The old advice to “seize time by the forelock ” is from Pittacus, 
one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece. 

The first clock mentioned in history was a gift from the Sultan of 
Egypt to Emperor Frederic II., a. d. 1232. 

A good instrument for measuring short spaces of time, invented by 
Wheatstone in 1840, is called the chronoscope. 

It was Montgomery who said that “ man cannot make a single 
second of time, but can waste whole years of it. 

Time will bring to light, says Horace, whatever is hidden; it will 
conceal and cover up what is now shining with the greatest luster. 

We understand by a generation a single succession in natural 
descent, the children of the same parents; in years three generations are 
accounted to make a century. 

The sun-ctial, as a time-measurer, was known in very early ages, 
and is mentioned in Scripture 713 b.c. A sun-dial only agrees with a 
clock on four days in the year. 

It is the science of chronology which arranges the events of history 
in their order of time. The earliest modern works on the subject appear 
to have been compiled by the Benedictines, 1783 et seq. 

If a railway were built to the sun, and trains upon it were run at the 
rate of 30 miles an hour, day and night, without a stop, it would require 
350 years to make the journey from the earth to the sun. 

41 



42 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


A chronograph is an instrument noting time within the fraction of 
a second. By the electrical chronograph, used by astronomers, the transit 
of a star can be recorded to within one-hundredth of a second. 

The Christian era begins with the birth of Christ. Its beginning 
coincides with the middle of the 4th year of the 194th Olympiad; the 
7q3rd of the building of Rome, and the 4714th of the Julian era. 

The clepsydra is an instrument to measure time by the trickling or 
escape of water. In Babylonia, India and Egypt, the clepsydra was 
used from before the dawn of history, especially in astronomical obser¬ 
vations. 

Decoration Day, or Memorial Day, in the United States, is a day 
set apart on which the graves of soldiers are visited and decorated with 
flowers by surviving comrades and friends. It has been created a 
national holiday. 

There is no such thing as time, argues Leigh Richmond, “it is but 
space occupied by incident; it is the same to eternity as matter is to infi¬ 
nite space—a portion out of the immense, occupied with something within 
the sphere of mortal sense. ’ ’ 

Thanksgiving Day was first established as a holiday in the year 1622. 
The custom now obtains throughout the United States, the last Thursday 
in November being usually the thanksgiving day appointed by the 
President for the mercies of the past year. 

Watches were invented at Nuremberg prior to 1500, and were brought 
to England from Germany in 1577. The spiral hair-spring w r as invented 
by Dr. Hooke in 1651, the compensation balance by John Harrison in 
1726, and the English lever escapement by Thomas Mudge in 1766. 

We call that a Chronicle in which events of history are treated in 
the order of time. A chronicle differs from annals in being more con¬ 
nected and full, the latter merely recording individual occurrences under 
the successive dates. Most of the older histories were called chronicles. 

The familiar hour glass is an instrument made up of two glass globes 
placed one above another. From the upper globe, through a small hole 
of communication, there runs a quantity of fine sand. The name is 
derived from the time the sand takes to run from the upper to the lower 
glass. 

In America Arbor Day is a day set apart for the planting of shade 
trees, shrubs, etc., by school children. Millions of trees have been 
planted since its institution. The first Friday in May has been selected 
for this purpose in Canada; in the United States, different days are 
chosen in the several States. 

Clocks are of ancient date, one having been made by Pacificus, arch¬ 
deacon of Verona, in the ninth century. Clocks with wheels were used in 
-monasteries about the twelfth century, and were made to strike the hour. 
Pendulum said to have been first applied by Harris, 1641; dead-beat 
pendulum invented, 1700; and the compensating pendulum, 1715. 

The chronometer is an instrument for measuring time, now gener¬ 
ally applied only to those watches specially made for determining longi¬ 
tude at sea. A chronometer which gained a prize of $100,000, offered by 
the British Board of Longitude for a timepiece to ascertain longitude 
within thirty miles, was made in 1761, by John Harrison, of Foulby, 
near Pontefract. 


TIME AND ITS LANDMARKS. 


43 


The Japanese divide the day into six day hours, from the rising to 
the setting of the sun, and six night hours, from sunset to sunrise. Ac¬ 
cordingly, although the dials of their clocks are figured with twelve 
numerals, the movement of the hands do not correspond with our own, 
these movements being regulated by ingenious mechanism to correspond 
with the variations in the length of days and nights. 

July 15 was called St. Swithin’s Day from the legend of St. Swithin, 
Bishop of Winchester, the tutor of King Alfred. To signify his displeas¬ 
ure at an attempt to bury him in the chancel of the minster instead of the 
churchyard, according to his directions, the bishop is said to have caused 
rain to fall for forty days. From this the popular superstition arose that 
if rain falls on July 15 it will continue for forty days. 

A watch on shipboard is a division of the crew into two— or if it be a. 
large crew into three—sections, that one set of men may have charge of 
the vessel while the others rest. The day and night are divided into 
watches of four hours each, except the period from 4 to 8 p. m. , which is 
divided into two dog-watches of two hours’ duratipn each. The object 
of the dog-watches is to prevent the same men being always on duty at 
the same hours. 

Another name for Palm Sunday is Fig Sunday. The term is derived 
from the custom in some countries of eating figs on this day, as snap¬ 
dragons on Christmas Eve, plum-pudding on Christmas Day, oranges 
and barley sugar on St. Valentine’s Eve, pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, 
salt cod-fish on Ash Wednesday, frumenti on Mothering Sunday (Mid- 
lent), cross-buns on Good Friday, gooseberry tart on Whit Sunday, goose 
on Michaelmas Day, nuts on All-Hallows, and so on. 

A Cycle in astronomy and mathematical chronology is a period or 
interval of time in which certain phenomena always recur in the same 
order. There are two great natural cycles, that of the sun and that of 
the moon. The solar cycle is a period of twenty-eight Julian years, after 
which the same days of the week recur on the same days of the year. 
The lunar or metonic cycle consists of nineteen years or two hundred 
and thirty-five lunations, after which the successive new moons happen 
on the same days of the year as during the previous cycle. 

Christmas Day, a festival of the Christian church, observed on the 
25th of December in memory of the birth of Jesus Christ. There is, 
however, a difficulty in accepting this as the date of the nativity, Decem¬ 
ber being the height of the rainy season in Judea, when neither flocks 
nor shepherds could have been at night in the fields of Bethlehem. The 
Christian communities w T hich keep Christmas, however, would probably 
agree in laying more stress on keeping a day in memory of the Nativity, 
than on success in fixing the actual and precise date of the event. 

The third season of the year, between summer and winter, is called 
autumn. Astronomically, in the northern hemisphere, it begins at the 
autumnal equinox, when the sun enters Eibra, 22d September, and ends, 
at the winter solstice, when the sun enters Capricorn, 21st December; 
but popularly, in Great Britain, it comprises the three months, August, 
September, and October. According to Littrd, it extends in France from 
the end of August to the first fortnight of November; according to Web¬ 
ster, in North America it includes the months of September, October, 
and November. In the southern hemisphere it corresponds in time to 
the northern spring. 


44 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The era of the Olympiads is a system of dates adopted by the ancient 
Greeks. An Olympiad was the interval of four years between two con¬ 
secutive celebrations of the Olympic games. These games were trials of 
strength and agility tested by running, boxing, leaping, wrestling and 
so on, held at Olympia, a plain of Elis, every fourth year. They were 
first employed for chronological purposes when Choroebos won the foot¬ 
race, the principal match before chariot races were introduced. 

A merry old holiday was St. Valentine’s Day, the 14th of February, 
on which, in England and Scotland in former times, each young bachelor 
and maid received by lot one of the opposite sex as “ valentine ” for the 
year. It was a kind of mock betrothal, and was marked by the giving 
of presents. From Pepys’ Diary we see that married as well as single 
people could be chosen. The usage, no doubt, grew out of the old 
notion, alluded to by Chaucer and Shakspeare, that on this day birds 
first choose their mates. 

In Holland the following names for the months are in use: January— 
Laurotnaand, chilly month; February—Sprokelmaand, vegetation month; 
March—Eentmaand, spring month; April—Grasmaand, grass month; 
May—Blowmaand, flower month; June—Zomermaand, summer month; 
July—Hooymaand, hay month; August—Oostmaand, harvest month; 
September—Hertsmaand, autumn month; October—Wynmaand, wine 
month; November—Slagmaand, slaughter month; December—Winter- 
maand, winter month. 

The Roman mouth was divided into Calends , Nones and Ides. The 
Calends always fell upon the first of the month; in March, May, July 
and October, the Nones on the 7th and the Ides on the 15th; and in 
the remaining months, the Nones on the 5th and the Ides on the 13th. 
The Roman year began with March, and the months corresponded with 
ours except that their fifth and sixth months were called Quintilis and 
Sextilis. Afterwards they were changed to July and August in honor of 
the emperors Julius and Augustus. 


STANDARD TIME. 

What is known as the “new standard time ” was adopted by agree¬ 
ment by all the principal railroads of the United States, at 12 o’clock, 
noon, on November 18, 1883. The system divides the continent into 
five longitudinal belts and fixes a meridian of time for each belt. These 
meridians are fifteen degrees of longitude, corresponding to one hour of 
time, apart. Eastern Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia use the 
60th meridian; the Canadas, New England, the Middle States, Virginia 
and the Carolinas use the 75th meridian, which is that of Philadelphia; 
the States of the Mississippi Valley, Alabama, Georgia and Florida, and 
westward, including Texas, Kansas, and the larger part of Nebraska and 
Dakota, use the 90th meridian, which is that of New Orleans. The 
Territories to the western border of Arizona and Montana go by the 
time of the 105th meridian, wdiich is that of Denver; and the Pacific 
States employ, the 120th meridian. The time divisions are known as 
intercolonial time, eastern time, central time, mountain time and Pacific 
time. A traveler passing from one time belt to another will find his 
watch an hour too fast or too slow, according to the direction in which 
he is going. All points in any time division using the time of the mer¬ 
idian must set their time-pieces faster or slower than the time indicated 
by the sun, according as their position is east or west of the line. This 



time and its landmarks. 


45 


change of system reduced the time standards used by the railroads from 
fifty-three to five, a great convenience to the railroads and the traveling 
public. The suggestion leading to the adoption of this new system 
originated with Professor Abbe of the Signal Bureau at Washington. 


WHERE THE SUN JUMPS A DAY. 

Chatham Island, lying off the coast of New Zealand, in the South 
Pacific Ocean, is peculiarly situated, as it is one of the habitable points 
of the globe where the day of the week changes. It is just in the line of 
demarkation between dates. There, at high 12 Sunday, noon ceases, and 
instantly Monday meridian begins. Sunday comes into a man’s house 
on the east side and becomes Monday by the time it passes out the west¬ 
ern door. A man sits down to his noonday dinner on Sunday and it is 
Monday noon before he finishes it. There Saturday is Sunday and Sun¬ 
day is Monday, and Monday becomes suddenly transferred into Tuesday. 
It is a good place for people who have lost much time, for by taking an 
early start they can always get a day ahead on Chatham Island. It took 
philosophers and geographers a long time to settle the puzzle of w T here 
Sunday noon ceased and Monday noon began with a man traveling west 
fifteen degrees an hour, or with the sun. It is to be hoped that the next 
arctic expedition will settle the other mooted question. “Where will one 
stop who travels northwest continually?’’ 


HARVEST MONTHS OF THE WORLD. 

January. —The greater part of Chili, portions of the Argentine 
Republic, Australia and New Guinea. 

February to March. —The East Indies. 

Aprie. —Mexico, Egypt, Persia and Syria. 

May. —Japan, China, Northern Asia Minor, Tunis, Algiers, Morocco 
and Texas. 

June. —California, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sicily, Greece and some 
of the southern departments of France. 

JULY.— The larger part of France, Austria, Southern Russia and the 
larger part of the United States of America. 

August. —Germany, England, Belgium, Netherlands, part of Rus¬ 
sia, Denmark, part of Canada, and the Northeastern States of America. 

September. —Scotland, the larger part of Canada, Sweden, Norway 
and the north midlands of Russia. 

OCTOBER.— The northern parts of Russia and the northern parts of 
the Scandinavian peninsula. 


SHIP’S TIME. 

On shipboard time is kept by means of “Bells,” though there is but 
one bell on the ship, and to strike the clapper properly against the bell 
requires some skill. 

First, two strokes of the clapper at the interval of a second, then an 
interval of two seconds; then two more strokes with a second’s interval 
apart, then a rest of two seconds, thus: 

Bell, one second; B., two seconds; B. s; B. ss, B. s; B. ss; B. 

1 Bell is struck at 12:30, and again at 4:30, 0:30, 8:30 p. m. ; 12:30, 4:30 
and 8:30 a. m. 





40 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


2 Bells at 1 (struck with an interval of a second between each— B. s, 
B.), the same again at 5, 7, and 9 p. m. ; 1, 5 and 9 a. m. 

3 Bells at 1:30 (B. s, B. ss, B.), 5:30, 7:30, and 9:30 P. M.; 1:30, 5:30 
and 9:30 a. m. 

4 Bells at 2 (B. s, B. ss, B. s, B.), 6 and 10 p. m. ; 2, 6, and 10 a. m. 

5 Bells at 2:30 (B. s, B. ss, B. s, B. ss, B.; and 10:30 p. m. ; 2:30, 6:30 
and 10:30 a. m. 

6 Bells at 3 (B. s, B. ss, B. s, B. ss, B. s, B.) and 11 p. m. ; 7, 3 and 11 

p. M. 

7 Bells at 3:30 (B. s, B. ss, B. s, B. ss, B. s, B. ss, B.) and 11:30 p. m. ; 
3:30, 7:30 and 11:30 a. m. 

8 Bells (B. s, B. ss, B. s, B. ss, B. s, B. ss, B. s, B.) every 4 hours, at 
noon, at 4 p. m., 8 p. m., midnight, 4 a. m. and 8 a. m. 


FRENCH REPUBLICAN CALENDAR. 

I. The Months, beginning September 22. Each month 30 days. 

Autumn. 

Vendemiaire (Vintage month).September 22—October 21. 

Brumaire (Foggy month).October 22—November 20. 

Frimaire (Sleety month)..November 21—December 20. 

Winter. 

Nivose (Snowy month).December 21—January 19. 

Pluviose (Rainy month) .January 20—February 18. 

Ventose (Windy month). .February 19—March 20. 

Spring. 

Germinal (Budding month).March 21—April 19. 

Floral (Flowery month).April 20—May 19. 

Prairial (Pasture month).May 20—June 18. 

Summer. 

Messidor (Harvest month).June 19—July 18. 

Thermidor (Hot month).July 19—August 17. 

Fructidor (Fruit month). August 18—September 16. 

From September 16 to September 22 are five days. These were called Sans culot- 
tides (4syl.),and were national holidays; 17 dedicated to Venus, 18 to Genius, 19 to 
Labor, 20 to Opinion, and 21 to Rewards. 

II. The Years. 

From September 22 1792, to September 21, 1793. 

“ “ “ 1793, “ “ “ 1794. 

" 1794, “ “ “ 1795. 

1795, “ “ “ 1796. 

1796 “ “ “ 1797. 

1797, “ “ “ 1798. 

1798, “ “ " 1799. 

1799, “ “ “ 1800. 

1800, “ “ “ 1801. 

1801, “ “ “ 1802. 

1802. “ *• “ 1803. ' 

1803. “ “ “ 1804. 

1804. “ “ “ 18C5. 


Year 


I. 

“ II. 

“ III. 

“ IV. 

“ V. 

“ VI. 

“ VII. 

“ VIII. 

“ IX. 

“ X. 

“ XI. 

“ XII. 

“ XIII. 

“ XIV. 

reckoning was abolished by Napoleon 


1805, to the close of the year, when the 


THE CHIEF CHRISTIAN FESTIVALS. 

Christian Feasts are (a) Fixed; (5) Movable. 

(a) The Fixed Christian Festivals are: 

All Saints or All Hallows, November 1. 

All Souls in honor of all the faithful dead, whether canonized or not, 
November 2. 
























TIME AND ITS LANDMARK'S . 


47 


Candlemas Day or the Purification of the Virgin Mary, February 2 
Christmas Day or the Nativity, December 25. " 

Circumcision, January 1 . 

Epiphany or Twelfth Day, January 6 . 

Innocents’ Day, December 28. 

Lady Day or Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, March 25. 

The following are also called Saints’ Days, or Red Letter Days: 

Andrew . . November 30 

Barnabas. . June 11 . 

James the Elder. j u l v 25 

John the Baptist (his Nativity). Junei!4 

John the Evangelist.'.. December 27 

Luke the Evangelist... October 18 

Mark the Evangelist. April 25 

Matthew the Evangelist. September 21. 

Matthias. February 24. 

Michael (Michaelmas Day). September 29. 

Paul (his Conversion). January 25. 

Peter (by Catholics Peter and Paul). June 29. 

Philip and James the Less. . M <y 1. 

Simon %nd Jude . October 28. 

Stephen (the first martyr)..• December 20. 

Thomas (the shortest day)... v . December 21. 

(5) Movable Christian Feasts: 


Ascension Day or Holy Thursday, ten days before Whit Sunday. 

Ash Wednesday, the first day in Lent. 

Easter Sunday. 

Good Friday, the Friday before Easter Day. 

Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter Day. 

Pentecost or Whit Sunday, the seventh Sunday after Easter. 
Sexagesima Sunday (about) sixty days before Easter, second Sunday 

before Lent. 


Trinity Sunday, the Sunday following Whit Sunday. 


THE CALENDARS OF HISTORY. 

The Jewish Calendar dates all the years downwards from the crea¬ 
tion, which it reckons at 3760 years and 2 months before the Christian 
era. Th z civil, year begins with the month Tisri, the ecclesiastical with 
the month Nisan. 

The Mohammedan Calendar begins with the first day of the first 
month of the year in which the Hegira, or flight of Mohammed, took 
place, i. e. 622 A. D., and was instituted in 639 or 640. 

The year of this calendar is shorter than ours by 10 days, 21 hours and 
14| seconds. 

The Julian Calendar, that adjusted by Julius Caesar, made the year 
to consist of 365 days 6 hours, the fourth year containing 366 days; this 
was superseded by that of the Gregorian Calendar (New Style), so called 
from its having been authorized by Pope Gregory XIII. That pontiff, to 
harmonize the civil with the solar year, the former being in arrear, charged 
the Council of Trent with the correction of the Julian Calendar, and in 
1582 issued a new calendar, omitting ten days, October 5 becoming 
October 15. All the nations of Europe, excepting Turkey, Greece and 
Russia, have adopted it. The New Style came into force in Great Brit¬ 
ain in 1751; September 3 becoming September 14 in 1752. 

In 1793 the National Convention of the first French republic decreed 
that the common era should be abolished in all civil affairs, ant that a 
new era should commence from the foundation of the republic, Septein- 
























48 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


ber 22, 1792. The year was to be divided into twelve months of thirty 
days each, with five complementary days at the end, which were to be 
celebrated as festivals, and were dedicated to Virtue, Genius, Labor, 
Opinion, Rewards. Every fourth or “Olympic” year was to have a 
sixth complementary day to be called “Revolution Day,” and every 
period of four years was to be called a Franciade. The first, second and 
third centurial years—viz. 100, 200, 300 were to be common years, the 
fourth centurial year 400 was to be a leap year, and this was to continue, 
till the fortieth centurial year 4000, which was to be a common year. 
The months were to be divided into three parts of ten days each, called 
decades. The names of the months and the days of the Gregorgian Cal¬ 
endar to which they corresponded are given in another section. 


THE MONTHS AND THEIR NAMES. * 

January, the first month of the year, was among the. Romans held 
sacred to Janus, from whom it derived its name, and was added to the 
calendar along with February by Numa in 713 B.C. It was not till the 
eighteenth century that January wa% universally adopted by European 
nations as the first month of the year, although the Romans considered 
it as such as far back as 251 B.C. 

February is the name given to the second month, in which were 
celebrated the Februa, or feasts to the manes of deceased persons. 

March, the first month of the Roman year, and the third according 
to our present calendar, consists of 31 days. It was considered as the 
first month of the year in England until the change of style in 1752, and 
the legal year was reckoned from the 25th of March. Its last three days 
(old style) w T ere once popularly supposed to have been borrowed by 
March from April, and are proverbially stormy. 

To the fourth month of our year the Romans gave the name of 
Aprilis, derived from aperire , “to open,” probably because it is the sea¬ 
son -when the buds begin to open. By the Anglo-Saxons it was called 
Eastermonth. 

The name of the fifth month, May, is said to be derived from Maia , 
the mother of Mercury, to whom the Romans on the first day offered sac¬ 
rifices. It was the third month of the Roman year. 

June, the sixth month of the year in our calendar, but the fourth 
among the Romans, consisted originally of 26 days, to which four were 
added by Romulus, one taken away by Numa, and the month again 
lengthened to 30 days by Julius Caesar. 

"The seventh month of the year in our calendar, and fifth in the 
Roman calendar, was originally called Quintilis (“the fifth”). At first 
it contained 36 days, was reduced to 31, then to 30, but was restored to 
31 days by Julius Caesar, in honor of whom it was named July. 

August, the eighth month of the year, was so named by the Emperor 
Augustus (B.C. 63—A.D. 14), who commanded that his name should be 
given to the month. August was the sixth month of the Roman year and 
was previously called Sextilis. 

September (Lat. septcm , seven) was the seventh month of the Roman 
calendar, but is the ninth according to our reckoning. The Anglo- 
Saxons called it gerst-monath , ‘ ‘ barley-month. ’ ’ 

October (Lat. octo , eight) was the eighth month of the so-called 
“year of Romulus,” but became the tenth when (according to tradition) 



TIME AND ITS LANDMARKS. 


49 


Numa changed the commencement of the year to January 1st, though it 
retained its original name. 

November (Lat. novem . “ nine”) was among the Romans the ninth 
month of the year (the Ger. Wind, month) at the time when the year 
consisted of ten months, and then contained 30 days. It subsequently 
w 7 as made to contain only 29, but Julius Caesar gave it 31; and in the 
reign of Augustus the number was restored to 30, which number it has 
since retained. 

December means the tenth month, and received that name from the 
Romans when the year began in March, and has retained its name since 
January and February were put at the beginning of the year. 


THE ORIGIN OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK. 

The names of these are derived from Saxon idolatry. The Saxons 
had seven deities more particularly adored than the rest, namely: The 
Sun, the Moon, Tuisco, Woden, Thor, Friga and Saeter. Sunday being 
dedicated to the sun, was called by them Sunandaeg; his idol represented 
the bust of a man, with the face darting bright rays, holding a wheel be¬ 
fore his breast, indicative of the circuit of the golden orb around our 
sphere. Monday w T as dedicated to the moon, and was represented by a 
female on a pedestal, with a very singular dress and two long ears. Tues¬ 
day was dedicated to Tuisco, a German hero, sire of the Germans, Scy¬ 
thians and Saxons. He was represented as a venerable old man, with a 
long, white beard, a scepter in his hand and the skin of a white bear 
thrown over his shoulders. Wednesday was consecrated to Woden, or 
Odiin, a supreme god of the northern nations, father of the gods and god 
of war. He was represented as a warrior in a bold martial attitude, clad 
in armor, holding in his right hand a broad, crooked sword and a shield 
in his left. Thursday was consecrated to Thor, eldest son of Woden, 
who was the Roman Jupiter. He was believed to govern the air, preside 
over lightning and thunder, direct the wind, rain, and seasons. He was 
represented as sitting on a splendid throne, with a crown of gold adorned 
with twelve glittering stars, and a scepter in his right hand. Friday was 
sacred to Friga—Hertha or Edith—the mother of the gods and wife of 
Woden. She was the goddess of love and pleasure and was portrayed as 
a female with a naked sword in her right hand and bow in her left hand, 
implying that in extreme cases women should fight as well as men. Sat¬ 
urday was named in honor of Saeter, who is the Roman Saturnus. He 
was represented on a pedestal, standing on the back of a prickly fish 
called a perch, his head bare, with a thin, meager face. In his left hand 
he held a wheel and in his right a pail of water with fruits and flowers. 
The sharp fins of the fish implied that the worshipers of Saeter should 
pass safely through every difficulty. The wheel was emblematic of their 
unity and freedom, and the pail of water implied that he could water the 
earth and make it more beautiful. 


THE HISTORIC AGES. 

The Age of the Bishops , according to Hallam, was the ninth century. 
The Age of the Popes , according to Hallam, was the twelfth century. 
Varo recognizes Three Ages: 1st. From the beginning of man to 
the great Flood (the period wholly unknown). 2nd. From the Flood 

U. I.—4 




50 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


to the first Olympiad (the mythical period). 3rd. From the first Olym¬ 
piad to the present time (the historical period). 

The Golden Age , a mythical period when the earth brought forth 
spontaneously, and the gods held converse with men. 

The Silver Age, the second period, when the gods taught men the 
useful arts. 

The Age of Bronze . the third or transition period, semi-historical. 
The age of heroes. It followed the “Stone Age.” 

The Iron Age , the historic period, when wars abound, and man 
earns his food by labor. _ 

LEGAL HOLIDAYS IN THE VARIOUS STATES. 

January 1. New Year’s Day: In all the States except Massachu¬ 
setts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. 

January 8. Anniversary of the Battle oe New Oreeans: In 
Louisiana. 

January 19. LEE’S Birthday: In Georgia, North Carolina and 
Virginia. 

February 12. Lincoen’s Birthday: In Illinois. 

February 14. 1893. Mardi Gras: In Alabama and Louisiana. 

February 22. Washington’s Birthday: In all the States except 
Arkansas, Iowa and Mississippi. 

March 2. Anniversary of Texan Independence: In Texas. 

March 4. Fireman’s Anniversary: In New Orleans, La. 

March 31, 1893. Good Friday: In Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, 
Pennsylvania and Tennessee. 

Aprie 5, 1893. State EeECTion Day: In Rhode Island. 

Aprie 21. Anniversary oe the Battee of San Jacinto: In 
Texas. 

Aprie 26. Memoriae Day: In Alabama and Georgia. 

May 10. Memoriae Day: In North Carolina. 

May 20. Anniversary of the Signing of the Meckeenburg 
Declaration of Independence: In North Carolina. 

May 30. Decoration Day: In Arizona, California, Colorado, Con¬ 
necticut, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michi¬ 
gan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New 
Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsyl¬ 
vania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, Washing¬ 
ton and Wyoming. 

June 3. Jefferson Davis’ Birthday: In Florida. 

July 4. Independence Day: In all the States. 

Juey 24. Pioneers’ Day: In Utah. 

September 4, 1893. Labor Day: In California, Colorado, Connecti¬ 
cut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, 
Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania’ 
South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and Washington. 

September 9. Admission Day: In California. 

October 31. Admission in the Union Day: Nevada. 

November —. General Election Day: In Arizona, California, 
Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Mon¬ 
tana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, 
Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West 
Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. In the States which 
hold elections in November, 1893, election day falls on the 7th instant. 



TIME AND ITS LANDMARKS. 


51 


November 23, 1893. Thanksgiving Day: Is observed in all the 
States, though in some it is not a statutory holiday. 

November 25. Labor Day: In Louisiana. 

December 25. Christmas Day: In all the States, and in South 
Carolina the two succeeding days in addition. 

Sundays and Fast Days (whenever appointed) are legal holidays in 
nearly all the States. 

Arbor Day is a legal holiday in Kansas, Rhode Island and Wyom¬ 
ing, the day being set by the Governor—in Nebraska, April 22; Califor¬ 
nia, September 9; Colorado, on the third Friday in April; Montana, third 
Tuesday in April; Utah, first Saturday in April; and Idaho, on Friday 
after May 1. 

Every Saturday after 12 o’clock noon is a legal holiday in New York, 
New Jersey, and the city of New Orleans, and from June 15 to September 
15 in Pennsylvania. 

There is no national holiday, not even the Fourth of July. Con¬ 
gress has at various times appointed special holidays, and has recognized 
the existence of certain days as holidays, for commercial purposes, in 
such legislation as the Bankruptcy act, but there is no general statute on 
the subject. The proclamation of the President designating a day of 
Thanksgiving only makes it a holiday in those States which provide by 
law for it. 


THE ADJUSTMENT OF THE CALENDAR. 

The Chaldeans, Egyptians and Indians, and indeed almost all the 
nations of antiquity, originally estimated the year, or the periodical re¬ 
turn of summer and winter, by 12 lunations; a period equal to 354 days, 
8 hours, 48 minutes, 36 seconds. . But the solar year is equal to 365 days, 
5 hours, 48 minutes, 49 seconds; or 10 days, 21 hours, 13 seconds longer 
than the lunar year, an excess named the epact; and accordingly the sea¬ 
sons were found rapidly to deviate from the particular months to which 
they at first corresponded; so that, in 34 years, the summer months would 
have become the winter ones, had not this enormous aberration been cor¬ 
rected by the addition or intercalation of a few odd days at certain in¬ 
tervals. Thus was the calendar first adjusted, and the solar year esti¬ 
mated to consist of 12 months, comprehending 365 days. But no account 
was taken of the odd hours, until their accumulation forced them into 
notice; and a nearer approximation to the exact measurement of a year 
was made about 45 years before the birth of Christ, when Julius Caesar, 
being led by Sosigenes, an astronomer of his time, to believe the error to 
consist of exactly 6 hours in the year, ordained that these should be set 
aside, and accumulated for four years, when, of course, they would amount 
to a day of 24 hours, to be accordingly added to every fourth year. This 
was done by doubling or repeating the 24th of February; and, in order to 
commence aright, he ordained the first to be a “year of confusion,” made 
up of 15 months, so as to cover the 90 days which had been then lost. 
The “Julian style” and the “Julian era” were then commenced; and so 
practically useful and comparatively perfect was this mode of time-reck¬ 
oning, that it prevailed generally amongst Christian nations, and re¬ 
mained undisturbed till the renewed accumulation of the remaining 
error, of 11 minutes or so, had amounted, in 1582 years after the birth of 
Christ, to 10 complete days; the vernal equinox falling on the 11th in¬ 
stead of the 21st of March, as it did at the time of the council of Nice, 325 



52 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


years after the birth of Christ. This shifting of days had caused great 
disturbances, by unfixing the times of the celebration of Easter, and 
hence of all the other movable feasts. And, accordingly, Pope Gregory 
XIII, after deep study and calculation, ordained that 10 days should be 
deducted from the year 1582, by calling what, according to the old cal¬ 
endar, would have been reckoned the 5th of October, the 15th of October, 
1582. In Spain, Portugal and parts of Italy, the pope was exactly obeyed. 
In France the change took place in the same year, by calling the 10th 
the 20th of December. In the Low Countries the change was from the 
15th of December to the 25th, but was resisted by the Protestant part of 
the community till the year 1700. The Catholic nations in general adopted 
the style ordained by their sovereign pontiff, but the Protestants were 
then too much inflamed against Catholicism in all its relations to receive 
even a purely scientific improvement from such hands. The Lutherans 
of Germany, Switzerland, and, as already mentioned, of the Low Coun¬ 
tries, at length gave way in 1700, when it had become necessary to omit 
eleven instead of ten days. A bill to this effect had been brought before 
the Parliament of England in 1585, but does not appear to have gone 
beyond a second reading in the House of Lords. It was not till 1751, 
and after great inconvenience had been experienced for nearly two cent¬ 
uries, from the difference of the reckoning, that an act was passed (24 
Geo. II, 1751) for equalizing the style in Great Britain and Ireland -with 
that used in other countries of Europe. It was enacted, in the first place, 
that eleven days should be omitted after the 2d of September, 1752, so 
that the ensuing day should be the 14th; and, in order to counteract a 
certain minute overplus of time, that “the years 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 
2300, or any other hundredth year of our Lord which shall happen in 
time to come, except only every fourth hundredth year of our Lord, 
whereof the year 2000 shall be the first, shall not be considered as leap 
years.” Our present Eastern States being then British colonies, the 
forefathers of the Republic, of course, used this altered calendar as soon 
as it was adopted. A similar change was about the same time made in 
Sweden and Tuscany; and Russia is now the only country which adheres 
to the old style; an adherence which renders it necessary, when a letter 
is thence addressed to a person in another country, that the date should 
1 June 26 

be given thus:—April — or-; for it will be observed, the year 1800 

13 July 9 

not being considered by us as leap year, has inteijected another (or 
twelfth) day between old and new style. 

The twelve calendar or civil months were so arranged by Julius 
Caesar, while reforming the calendar, that the odd months—the first, 
third, fifth, and so on, should contain 31 days, and the even numbers 30 
days, except in the case of February, which was to have 30 only in what 
has been improperly termed leap year, while on other years it was as¬ 
signed 29 days only; a number which it retained till Augustus Caesar 
deprived it of another day. How the changes were effected is shown in 
a prior chapter on “The Months.” 



LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


The grand debate, 

The popular harangue, the tart reply, 

The logic, and the wisdom, and the wit, 

And the loud laugh —I long to know them all. 

—Cowper. 


PICKINGS FOR STUDENTS. 

There are said to be 2,754 languages. 

Rhetoric, as an art, dates from 466 B. C. 

A poet terms words “the soul’s embassadors.” 

The rude speech of fishwives is called Billingsgate. 

Eyrie poetry has to do with the feelings and emotions. 

A terse and poetical expression of an idea is an Epigram. 

Leibnitz was first to reduce philology to a science of induction. 

Appolonius of Alexandria was called the Prince of Grammarians. 

In the Turkish languagearetobemetthelongestcompound words. 

When w r e express a principle very concisely we employ an Aphorism. 

The tales, ballads and legends of a people constitute its Folk-lore. 

A pithy saying that conveys an important truth, is called an Apoph¬ 
thegm. 

Rhetoric is the theory and practice of eloquence, wdiether spoken or 
written. 

Language is claimed to have begun in the use of cries to help out 
gestures. 

A Hellenist is one that is versed in the Greek languages and 

literature. 

One verse in the Bible (Ezra vii. 21) will be found to contain all the 
letters of our alphabet. 

Orientals aver that the serpent who tempted Eve spoke Arabic, 
“the most suasive of tongues.” 

The Italian, Spanish, French and other tongues derived mainly from 
Latin, are called the Romance languages. 

It was not Talleyrand, butMontron, the diplomat, who said: “Lang¬ 
uage is given to man to conceal his thoughts.” 

Acrostic is a term for any given number of verses, the first letters of 
which in their order form a given word, phrase or sentence. 

Didactic poetry is that class which aims, or seems to aim, at instruc¬ 
tion as its object, making pleasure entirely subservient thereto. 



54 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The combined ingenuity of the world has not surpassed this sentence 
as containing all the letters and each only once: “Quiz, Jack; thy frowns 
vex.—G. D. PiyUMB. ’’ 

If the riches of the Indies, says Fenelon, or the crowns of all the 
kingdoms of Europe, were laid at my feet in exchange for my love for 
reading, I would spurn them all. 

The ancient Scandinavians employed an alphabet of letters formed 
principally of straight lines, which has been called Runic from an Ice¬ 
landic word runa , meaning a furrow or line. 

Charles V used to say that he would talk Spanish to the gods, Ital¬ 
ian to ladies, French to men, German to soldiers, English to geese, 
Hungarian to horses, and Bohemian to the devil. 

Cipher as a method of secret writing was known as early as the time 
of Julius Caesar. It consisted of a transposition of the letters of the 
alphabet. The most complicated ciphers known can be translated by 
modern experts. 

Taboo is a Polynesian word, signifying something set apart, either 
as sacred or accursed, clean or unclean, but in any case as a thing for¬ 
bidden. All the law and morality of the Polynesians had their origin 
in the taboo or system of religious prohibitions. 

The writing in use among the Arabs between the sixth and eleventh 
centuries, and, supposed to have been invented at Cufa, is called Cufic 
writing. Cufic coins are those of the Mohammedan sovereigns and are 
of great use in throwing light on the history of the East. 

The longest words in the language, taken from the “Century Dic¬ 
tionary:’’ Suticonstitutionalist, Incomprehensibility, Philoprogenitive¬ 
ness, Honorificibilitudinity, Anthropophagenarian, Disproportionable- 
ness, Velocipedestrianistical, Transubstantiationableness, Palatopharyn- 
geolaryngeal. 

The term Colophon applies to the inscription or monogram on the last 
page of a book, which in old times contained the author’s and printer’s 
names, date of publication, and so on. It is derived from the Gseek 
phrase “to add a colophon,’’ to put the finishing stroke to an engagement 
by a cavalry attack. 

Outside of medical and technical terms the word ‘ ‘unexceptionable¬ 
ness’’ is, according to some lexicographers, the longest English word. 
“Incomprehensibility’’ has the same complement of letters, nineteen, 
but four of them are “i,” and it would occupy less space in type than its 
sesquipedalian brother. 

Americanisms are words or phrases peculiar to the United States. 
Many of them, however, are the renewal of old English words that have 
become obsolete in the mother country. Others have sprung into exist¬ 
ence through the new conditions consequent in the rapid development 
of our western territory. 

A sonnet is a poetic form, of Italian origin, used to express a single 
thought or single wave of emotion. The Petrarchan sonnet consists of 
fourteen lines, divided into an octave of two rhymes, and a sestet of 
two or three rhymes. The Shakspearian sonnet consists of six alternate 
rhymes clinched by a couplet. 

In 1879, Johann Martin Schleyer, a Swabian pastor and latterly a 
teacher in Constance, invented the universal language called Volapiik. 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


55 


Of the vocabulary about one third is of English origin, while the Latin 
and the Romance languages furnish a fourth. The grammar is simplified 
to the utmost. The most practical disciples limit their aims to making 
Volapiik a convenience for commercial correspondence, a kind of ex¬ 
tended international code. 

An anagram is the formation of a new word, phrase or sentence out 
of anothor by a transposition of the letters. To be effective the anagram 
must have the element of sarcasm, surprise or revelation involved. ‘ ‘Love 
to ruin” is an anagram for revolution, ‘‘sly ware” for lawyers, ‘‘a man 
to wield great wills” for William Ewart Gladstone. 

Mac (contracted M’) is a Gaelic prefix occurring frequently in Scot¬ 
tish names, as Macdonald, M’Lennan, and the like,meaning ‘‘son,” ‘‘tribe” 
or ‘‘kin.” It corresponds to the son in names of Teutonic origin, as Da¬ 
vidson; the Fitz in Norman names, as Fitzherbert; the Irish O, as in 
O’Connell; and the Welsh Map , shortened into ’op or as Ap Richard, 
whence Prichard. 

We find in a historical incident the true etymology of the term La¬ 
conisms. When Philip of Macedon wrote to the Spartan magistrates, ‘ ‘If 
I enter Laconia I will level Lacedeemon to the ground,” the ephors wrote 
back the single word ‘‘If.” Similarly, in 1490, O’Neill wrote to O’Donnel, 
“Send me the tribute, or else—;” to which O’Donnel returned answer, “I 
owe none, and if—.” 

The Brogue (Irish and Gaelic brog) is a light shoe formed of one 
piece of hide or half-tanned leather, gathered round the ankle, which 
was formerly much in use among the native Irish and the Scottish High¬ 
landers, and of which there were different varieties. Whence comes the 
term brogue signifying the peculiar pronounciation of English that dis¬ 
tinguishes natives of Ireland. 

An allegory is a ‘ ‘prolonged metaphor’ ’ or figurative representation 
conveying some moral or teaching. Of very early origin it is especially 
common among the Oriental people. It is of frequent occurrence in the 
Bible. In English literature there are many fine examples, among the 
most familiar of which are Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” and Spenser’s 
“Faerie Queen.” The latter is a double allegory. 

Among the puzzle-pastimes based on the alphabet a logogram is 
simply a complicated or multiplied form of the anagram, where the 
puzzle-monger, instead of contenting himself with the formation of a 
single new word or sentence out of the old by the transposition of the 
letters, racks his brain to discover all the words that may be extracted 
from the whole or from any portion of the letters, and throws the whole 
into a series of verses in which synonymic expressions for these -words 
must be used. 

Sanscrit is one of the Indo-European group of languages, intimately 
connected-with the Persian, Greek, Latin, Teutonic, Slavonian and Celtic 
languages. It is the classical language of the Hindus, and the parent of 
all the modern Aryan languages of India. It ceased to be a spoken lan¬ 
guage about the second century B. C. Sanscrit literature, which extends 
back to at least 1,500 B. C. and is very voluminous, was introduced to 
the western world by Sir Wm. Jones, who founded the Asiatic Society in 
Calcutta in 1784. 

Our familiar and valuable friends, the letters of the common alpha¬ 
bet, are said to have originated in the hieroglyphic symbols of Egypt, 


56 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


legendarily ascribed to Memnon, 1822 B. C. From the Egyptians and 
Assyrians "the Phoenicians introduced the chief letters of the present 
alphabet. Cadmus is traditionally stated (149 B. C.) to have brought 
into Greece the Phoenician letters which ultimately became the basis of 
the.present alphabet. The number of letters composing the alphabet 
varies among different nations. The true theory of an alphabet requires 
a single sign to represent each single sound. 

When the Ephraimites, after their defeat by Jeplithah, tried to pass 
the Jordan, a guard stationed on the banks of the river tested everyone 
who came to the ford by asking him to pronounce the word “Shibboleth” 
which the men of Ephraim called sibboleth. Everyone who said “sibbo- 
leth” was immediately cut down by the guard, and there fell in one day, 
42,000 Ephraimites (Judges xii: 1-6). Hence arises the present meaning 
of the word as the test, criterion or watchword of a party. 

To “speak for bunkum” is a common expression indicating bombast 
or mere show. The phrase no doubt owes it origin to the perseverance 
of an old mountainer, Felix Walter by name, representative in Congress 
from North Carolina, in whose district w r as the county of Buncombe. It 
was at the close of the famous debate on the Missouri Compromise. Mr. 
Walker rose to speak. The House was impatient and frequent calls for 
the “Question” were heard. Mr. Walker insisted, saying that he w T as 
bound to “speak for Bumcombe.” 

The sixteen Greek letters, said to have been introduced into Thebes 
(in Bceotia) by Cadmus, son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, are called the 
Cadmean letters. The letters are a, b, g, d, e, i, k, 1, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u. 
These letters were subsequently increased by eight Ionic letters, z, e, th, 
x, ph, eh, ch, ps, and 6. Simonieds of Cos is credited with the four let¬ 
ters th, z, ph, ch, and Epicharmos the Sicilian, with the four letters x, 
e, ps, o. The Ionians were the first to employ all the twenty-four letters, 
whence the eight added were called Ionic letters. 

We use the term “bull” to describe a ridiculous blunder in speech 
implying a contradiction. Bulls in their best form are usually alleged 
to be an especial prerogative of Irishmen—at least it is certain that the 
best examples have come from Ireland. For instance, on a rustic Irish¬ 
man being asked what a bull was he naively replied: “Whin ye see five 
cows lyin’ down in a field the wan standin’ up is a bull.” The follow¬ 
ing sentence is also a good illustration: “All along the untrodden paths 
of the past we perceive the footprints of an unseen hand.” 

Critics employ the term Bathos to designate a ludicrous descent from 
the elevated to the commonplace in writing or speech, or a sinking below 
the ordinary level of thought in a ridiculous effort to aspire. It is of the 
essence of bathos that he who is guilty of it should be unconscious of his 
fall, and while groveling on the earth, should imagine that he is still 
cleaving the heavens. A good example of bathos is the well-known cou- 

P^* “And thou, Dalhousie, thou great god of war, 

Lieutenant-general to the Earl of Mar!” 

or the well-known encomium of the celebrated Boyle: “Robert Boyle 
was a great man, a very great man; he was father of chemistry and 
brother to the Earl of Cork.” 

A dictionary is a book containing the words of a language alpha¬ 
betically arranged, with their definitions and significations set forth more 
or less fully. It differs from a mere list or index, in that it contains 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


57 


explanations about each word included within its scope, except wliere it 
is more convenient, by a cross-reference, to refer the reader for a part or 
the whole of the account of one word to what is said under some other 
word. There are several other terms that are used synonymously, or 
nearly so, with dictionary. The Greek word “lexicon” is in common 
use for a dictionary of languages. 


CHIEF LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD. 

Some estimate that there are over three thousand languages in the 
world; and above a thousand different religions, including what are 
called “sects.” English is spoken by above one hundred and thirty 
millions of the human race; German by one hundred millions; Russian 
by seventy millions; French by forty-five millions; Spanish by forty 
millions; Italian by thirty millions, and Portuguese by thirteen millions. 

English is spoken by four million Canadians; over three and a half 
million West Indians; three million Australians; one million East 
Indians; thirty-eight millions in the British Isles, and sixty-three mill¬ 
ions in America; besides Africa, Jamaica, etc. 

German is spoken by two millions in the United States and Canada; 
two millions in Switzerland; forty thousand Belgians; forty-six millions 
in the German empire, and ten millions in the Austro - Hungarian 
empire. 

French is spoken by two and a quarter million Belgians; one million 
in the United States and Canada; one million in Algiers, India and 
Africa; six hundred thousand Swiss; six hundred thousand in Hayti; 
two hundred thousand in Alsace-Lorraine; and thirty-eight millions in 
France. 


HOW TO SPEAK CORRECTLY. 

There are several kinds of errors in speaking. The most objection¬ 
able are those in which words are employed that are unsuitable to con¬ 
vey the meaning intended. Thus, a person wishing to express his 
intention of going to a given place says, “I propose going,” when, in 
fact, he purposes going. The following affords an amusing illustration 
of this class of error: A venerable matron was speaking of her son, 
who, she said, was quite stage-struck. “In fact,” remarked the old 
lady, “ he is going to a premature performance this evening ” ! Consid¬ 
ering that most amateur performances are premature, it cannot be said 
that this word was altogether misapplied; though, evidently, the ma¬ 
ternal intention was to convey a very different meaning. 

Other errors arise from the substitution of sounds similar to the 
words that should be employed; that is, spurious words instead of genu¬ 
ine ones. Thus, some people say, “ renumerative” when they mean 
“ remunerative .” A nurse, recommending her mistress to have a per¬ 
ambulator for her child, advised her to purchase a preamputator\ 

Other errors are occasioned by imperfect knowledge of the English 
grammar; thus, many people say: “Between you and I,” instead of 
“Between you and me." And there are numerous other departures 
from the rules of grammar, which will be pointed out hereafter. 

Misuse OP THIS Adjective: “What beautiful butter!” “What a 
nice landscape!” They should say: “What a beautiful landscape: 
“What nice butterf” Again, errors are frequently occasioned by the 
following causes: 




58 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Mispronunciation of Words: Many persons say prononnciation 
instead of pronunciation; others say pro-nun-ce-a-shun, instead of pro- 
nun-she-a-shun. 

Misdivision of Words and Syeeabees: This defect makes the 
words a7i ambassador sound like a nanibassador , or an adder like a nadder. 

Imperfect Enunciation, as when a person says hebben for heaven , 
ebber for ever, jocholate for chocolate. 

To correct these errors by a systematic course of study would involve 
a closer application than most persons could afford, but the simple and 
concise rules and hints here given, founded upon usage and the authority 
of scholars, will be of great assistance to inquirers. 

Who and whom are used in relation to persons, and which in rela¬ 
tion to things. But it was once common to say, “the man which." 
This should now be avoided. It is now usual to say, “ Our Father who 
art in heaven;” instead of “ which art in heaven.” 

Whose is, however, sometimes applied to things as well as persons. 
We may therefore say, “The country whose inhabitants are free.” 

Thou is employed in solemn discourse and you in common lang¬ 
uage. Ye (plural) is also used in serious addresses, and you in familiar 
language. 

The uses of the word it are various, and very perplexing to the un¬ 
educated. It is not only used to imply persons, but things, and even 
ideas, and therefore in speaking or writing, its assistance is constantly 
required. The perplexity respecting this word arises from the fact that 
in using it in the construction of a long sentence, sufficient care is not 
taken to insure that when it is employed it really points out or refers 
to the object intended. For instance, “ It was raining when John set 
out in his cart to go to market, and he was delayed so long that it 
was over before he arrived.” Now what is to be understood by this sen¬ 
tence? Was the rain over? or the market? Either or both might be in¬ 
ferred from the construction of the sentence, which, therefore, should be 
written thus: “ It was raining when John set out in his cart to go to 
market, and he was delayed so long that the market was over before he 
arrived.” 

Rule. —After writing a sentence always look through it, and see that 
wherever the word it is employed, it refers to or carries the mind back 
to the object which it is intended to point out. 

The general distinction between this and that may be thus defined: 
this denotes an object present or near, in time or place; that something 
which is absent. 

These refers, in the same manner, to present objects, while those 
refers to things that are remote. 

Who changes, under certain conditions, into whose and ivhom; but 
that and which always remain the same, with the exception of the pos¬ 
sessive case, as noted above. 

That may be applied to nouns or subjects of all sorts; as the girl 
that went to school, the dog that bit me, the opinion that he entertains. 

The misuse of these pronouns gives rise to more errors in speaking 
and writing than any other cause. 

When you wish to distinguish between two or more persons, say, 
“ Which is the happy man? ” not who —“ Which of those ladies do you 
admire? ” 

Instead of “ Whom do you think him to be? ” say, “ Who do you 
think him to be ? ” 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


59 


Whom should I see ? 

To whom do you speak ? 

Who said so ? 

Who gave it to you ? 

Of whom did you procure them ? 

Who was he? 

Who do men say that / am ? 

Self should never be added to his, their, mine, or thine. 

Each is used to denote every individual of a number. 

Every denotes all the individuals of a number. 

Either and or denote an alternative: “I will take either road, at 
your pleasure,” ‘‘I will take this or that.” 

Neither means not either; and nor means not the other. 

Either is sometimes used for each —‘‘Two thieves were crucified, on 
either side one.” 

‘‘Let each esteem others as good as themselves,” should be, ‘‘Let 
each esteem others as good as himself." 

‘‘There are bodies each of which are so small,” should be, “ each of 
which is so small.” 

Do not use double superlatives, such as most straightest , most high¬ 
est, most finest. 

The term worser has gone out of use; but lesser is still retained. 

The use of such words as chiefest, extremest, etc., has become obso¬ 
lete, because they do not give any superior force to the meanings of the 
primary words, chief, extreme, etc. 

Such expressions as more impossible , more indispensable , more uni¬ 
versal, more uncontrollable, more unlimited , etc., are objectionable, as 
they really enfeeble the meaning which it is the object of the speaker or 
writer to strengthen. For instance, impossible gains no strength by 
rendering it more impossible. This class of error is common with per¬ 
sons who say “ A great large house,” ‘‘A great big animal,” ‘‘A little 
small foot, ” ‘ ‘ A tiny little hand. ’ ’ 

Hence, whence and thence, denoting departure, etc., may be used 
without the word from. The idea of from is included in the word whence 
—therefore it is unnecessary to say, "From whence." 

Hither , thither and whither , denoting to a place,have generally been 
superseded by here, there and where. But there is no good reason why 
they should not be employed. If, however, they are used, it is unnec¬ 
essary to add the word to, because that is implied—“ Whither are you 
going ? ” “ Where are you going ?’ ’ Each of these sentences is complete. 

Two negatives destroy each other, and produce an affirmative. “ Nor 
did he not observe them,” conveys the idea that he did observe them. 

But negative assertions are allowable. ‘‘His manners are not im¬ 
polite,” which implies that his manners are in some degree marked by 
politeness. 

Instead of ‘‘Let you and I," say ‘‘Let you and me.” 

Instead of ‘‘I am not so tall as him," say ‘‘I am not so tall as he.” 

When asked ‘‘Who is there?” do not answer "Me," but ‘‘I.” 

Instead of ‘‘For you and I," say ‘‘For you and me.” 

Instead of "Says I," say ‘‘I said.” 

Instead of ‘‘You are taller than me," say ‘‘You are taller than I.” 

Instead of ‘‘I ain't," or ‘‘I arn't," say ‘‘I am not.” 

Instead of ‘‘Whether I be present or no,” say ‘‘Whether I be pres¬ 
ent or not.” 


60 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


For “Not that I know on,” say “Not that I know.” 

Instead of “ Was I to do so,” say “Were I to do so.” 

Instead of “I would do the same if I was him say “I would do the 
same if I were he.” 

Though “I had as lief go myself,” is not incorrect, some prefer “I 
would as soon go myself,” or “I would rather go myself.” 

It is better to say “Six weeks ago,” than “Six weeks back.” 

It is better to say “Since which time,” than “Since when.” 

It is better to say “I repeated it,” than “I said so over again.” 
Instead of “He was too young to have suffered much,” say “He was too 
young to suffer much.” 

Instead of “Less friends,” say “Fewer friends.” Less, refers to 
quantity. 

Instead of “A quantity of people,” say “A number of people.” 

Instead of “As far as I can see,” say “So far as I can see.” 

Instead of “A new pair of gloves,” say “A pair of new gloves.” 

Instead of “I hope you’ll think nothing on it,” say “I hope you’ll 
think nothing of it.” 

Instead of “Restore it back to me,” say “Restore it to me.” 

Instead of “I suspect the veracity of his story,” say “I doubt the 
truth of his story. ’ ’ 

Instead of “I seldom or ever see him,” say “I seldom see him.” 

Instead of “I expected/*? have found him,” say “I expected to find 
him.” 

Instead of “Who learns you music ? ” say “Who teaches you music ?” 

Instead of I never sing whenever I can help it,” say “I never sing 
when I can help it.” 

Instead of “Before I do that I must first ask leave,” say “Before I 
do that I must ask leave. ’ ’ 

Instead of saying “Th & observation of the rule,” say “The observ¬ 
ance of the rule. ’ ’ 

Instead of “A man of eighty years of age,” say “A man eighty 
years old.” 

Instead of “Here lays his honored head,” say “Here lies his hon¬ 
ored head.” 

Instead of “He died from negligence," say “He died through neglect,” 
or “in consequence of neglect.” 

Instead of “Apples are plenty,” say “Apples are plentiful.” 

Instead of “The latter end of the year,” say “The end, or the close of 
the year.” 

Instead of “The then government,” say “The government of that 
age, or century, or year or time. ’ ’ 

Instead of “A couple of chairs,” say “Two chairs.” 

Instead of “They are united together in the bonds of matrimony,” 
say “They are united in matrimony,” or “They are married.” 

Instead of “We travel slow," say “We travel slowly.” 

Instead of “He plunged down into the river,” say “He plunged into 
the river.” 

Instead of “He jumped from off of the scaffolding,” say “He jumped 
off the scaffolding.” 

Instead of “He came the last of all f say “He came last. ” 

Instead of “ universal ,” with reference to things that have any limit, 
say “general;” “generally approved,” instead of “universally approved;” 
“generally beloved,” instead of “universally beloved.” 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE . 


61 


Instead of “They ruined one another A say “They ruined each 
other. ’ ’ 

Instead of “If 'incase I succeed,” say “If I succeed.” 

Instead of “A large enough room,” say “A room large enough.” 

Instead of “I am slight in comparison to you,” say “I am slight in 
comparison with you.” 

Instead of “I went for to see him,” say “I went to see him.” 

Instead of “The cake is all eat up A say “The cake is all eaten.” 

Instead of “The book fell on the floor,” say “The book fell to the 
floor.” 

Instead of “His opinions are approved of by all,” say “His opinions 
are approved by all.” 

Instead of “I will add one more argument,” say “I will add one ar¬ 
gument more,” or “another argument.”- 

Instead of “He stands six foot high,” say “He measures six feet,” 
or “His height is six feet.” 

Say “The first two,” “and the last two,” instead of “the two first A 
“the two last.” 

Instead of “Except I am prevented,” say “Unless I am prevented.” 

Instead of “It grieves me to see you,” say “I am grieved to see you.” 

Instead of “Give me them papers,” say “Give me those papers.” 

Instead of “Those papers I hold in my hand,” say “These papers I 
hold in my hand.” 

Instead of “I could scarcely imagine but what A say “I could scarcely 
imagine but that.” 

Instead of “He was a man notorious for his benevolence,” say “He 
was noted for his benevolence.” 

Instead of “She was a woman celebrated for her crimes,” say “She 
was notorious on account of her crimes.” 

Instead of “What may your name be?” say “What is your name?” 

Instead of “I lifted it up A say “Ilifted it.” 

Instead of “It is equally of the same value,” say “ It is of the same 
value,” or “equal value.” 

Instead of “I knew it previous to your telling me,” say “I knew it 
previously to your telling me.” 

Instead of “You was out when I called,” say “You were out when 
I called.” 

Instead of “I thought I should have won this game,” say “I thought 
I should win this game.” 

Instead of “This much is certain,” say, “Thus much is certain,” or 
“So much is certain.” 

Instead of “Put your watch in your pocket,” say “Put your watch 
into your pocket.” 

Instead of “He has got riches,” say “He has riches.” 

Instead of “Will you set down ?” say “Will you sit down ?” 

Instead of “No thankee A say “No, thank you.” 

Instead of “I cannot do it without farther means,” say “I cannot do 
it without further means.” 

Instead of “No sooner but A or “No other but A say “than.” 

Instead of “Nobedy else but her,” say “Nobody but her.” 

Instead of “He fell down from the balloon,” say “He fell from the 
balloon.” 

Instead of “He rose up from the ground,” say “He rose from the 
ground.” 


62 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


Instead of “These kind of oranges are not good,” say “This kind of 
oranges is not good.” 

Instead of “Somehow or another,” say “Somehow or other.” 

Instead of “ Will I give you some more tea?” say “Shall I give you 
some more tea ?’ ’ 

Instead of “Oh, dear! what will! do?” say “Whatshall I do?” 

Instead of “To be given away gratis ,” say “To be given away.” 

Instead of “Will you enter in?” say “Will you enter?” 

Instead of ‘ ‘ This three days or more, ’ ’ say ‘ ‘These three days or more. ’ * 

Instead of “He is a bad grammarian,” say “He is not a grammarian.” 

Instead of “We accuse him for,” say “We accuse him of.” 

Instead of We acquit him from,” say “We acquit him of.” 

Instead of “I am averse from that,” say “I am averse to that.” 

Instead of “I confide on you,” say “I confide in you.” 

Instead of “As soon as ever,” say “As soon as.” 

Instead of “The very best,” or “The very worst,” say “The best, or 
the worst.” 

Avoid such phrases as “No great shakes,” “Nothing to boast of,” 
“Down in my boots,” “Suffering from the blues.” All such sentences 
indicate vulgarity. 

Instead of “No one hasn't called,” say “No one has called.” 

Instead of “You have a right to pay me,” say “It is right that you 
should pay me.” 

Instead of “I am going over the bridge,” say “I am going across the 
bridge.” 

Instead of “I should just think I could,” say “I think I can.” 

Instead of “There has been a good deal,” say “There has been 
much.” 

Instead of saying, “The effort you are makin <gfor meeting the bill,” 
say “The effort you are making to meet the bill.” 

To say “Do not give him no more of your money,” is equivalent to 
saying “Give him some of your money.” Say “Do not give him any of 
your money.” 

Instead of saying “They are not what nature designed them,” say 
“They are not what nature designed them to be.” 

Instead of saying ‘ ‘ I had not the pleasure of hearing his senti¬ 
ments when I wrote the letter,” say “I had not the pleasure of hav¬ 
ing heard,” etc. 

Instead of “The quality of the apples were good,” say “The quality 
of the apples was good.” 

Instead of “The want of learning, courage and energy are more vis¬ 
ible,” say “Is more visible.” 

Instead of “We dieybrwant,” say “We die of want.” 

Instead of “He died by fever,” say “He died of fever.” 

Instead of “I enjoy bad health,” say “My health is not good.” 

Instead of “Either of the three,” say “Any one of the three.” 

Instead of “Better nor that,” say “Better than that.” 

Instead of “We often think on you,” say “We often think of you.” 

Instead of “Mine is so good as yours,” say “Mine is as good as 
yours. ’ ’ 

Instead of “This town is not as large as we thought, ” say “This town 
is not so large as we thought.” 

Instead of ”Because why?” say “Why?” 

Instead of “That there boy,” say “That boy.” 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


63 


Instead of “ That horse is not much worth," say “The horse is not 
worth much.” 

Instead of “The subject-matter of debate,” say “The subject of de¬ 
bate. ” 

Instead of saying “When he was come back,” say “When he had 
come back.” 

Instead of saying “His health has been shook," say “His health has 
been shaken.’ 

Instead of “It was spoke in my presence,” say “It was spoken in my 
presence. ’ ’ 

Instead of “ Very right,” or “ Very wrong,” say “Right,” or 
“Wrong.” 

Instead of “The mortgageor paid him the money,” say “The mort¬ 
gagee paid him the money,” the mortgagee lends; the mortgageor 
borrows. ’ ’ 

Instead of “I took you to be another person,” say “I mistook you for 
another person.” 

Instead of “On either side of the river,” say “On each side of the 
river.” 

Instead of “ There's fifty,” say “There are fifty.” 

Instead of “The best of the two,” say “The better of the two.” 

Instead of “My clothes have become too small for me,” say “I have 
grown too stout for my clothes.” 

Instead of “Two spoonsful of physic,” say “Two spoonfuls of 
physic.” 

Instead of “She said, says she,” say “She said.” 

Avoid such phrases as “I said, says I,” “Thinks I to myself,” etc. 

Instead of “I don’t think so,” say “I think not.” 

Instead of “He was in eminent danger,” say “He was in imminent 
danger.” 

Instead of “The weather is hot," say “The weather is very warm.” 

Instead of “I sweat," say “I perspire.” 

Instead of “I only want two dollars,” say “I want only two dollars.” 

Instead of “Whatsomever,” say “Whatever,” or “Whatsoever.” 

Avoid such exclamations as “God bless me!” “God deliver me!” 
“By Gosh !” “My Lord !” “Upon my soul!” etc., which are vulgar on 
the one hand, and savor of impiety on the other, for—“Thou shalt not 
take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” 


THE ART OF TETTER-WRITING. 

A business letter should be clear, explicit and concise. 

Figures should be written out, except dates; sums of money should 
be both in waiting and figures. 

Copies of all business letters should be kept. 

When you receive a letter containing money it should be immedi¬ 
ately counted and the amount marked on the top margin. 

Letters to a stranger about one’s own personal affairs, requesting 
answer, should always inclose a stamp. 

Short sentences are preferable to long ones. 

Letters requiring an answer should have prompt attention. 

Never write a letter while under excitement or when in an unpleas¬ 
ant humor. 

Never write an anonymous letter. 




64 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATLON. 


Do not fill your letter with repetitions and apologies. 

Avoid writing with a pencil. Use black ink. Blue or violet may be 
used, but black is better. 

In acknowledging receipt of a letter always mention date. 

Note, packet or letter size should be used. It is unbusiness-like and 
very poor taste to use foolscap or mere scraps. 

If single sheets are used they should be carefully paged. Business 
letters should be written on but one side of the sheet. 

A letter sheet should be folded from bottom upward. Bring lower 
edge near the top so as to make the length a trifle shorter than the enve¬ 
lope, then fold twice the other way. The folded sheet should be just 
slightly smaller than the envelope. 

If note sheet, fold twice from bottom upw T ard. If envelope is nearly 
square, single fold of note sheet is sufficient. 

Envelopes, like the paper, should be white, and of corresponding 
size and quality. It is poor taste to use colored paper, or anything but 
black ink. 

The postage stamp should be placed at the upper right hand corner. 

The address should be so plainly written that no possible mistake 
could be made either in name or address. It -is unnecessary to add the 
letters P. O. after the name of the place. When the letter reaches the 
town it is not likely to go to the court house or jail. Letters of introduc¬ 
tion should bear upon envelope the name and address of the person to 
whom sent, also the words in the lower left hand corner, “Introducing: 
Mr.-. 


PUNCTUATION AS IT SHOULD BE. 

A period (.) after every declarative and every imperative sentence; as, 
It is true. Do right. 

A period after every abbreviation; as, Dr., Mr., Capt. 

An interrogation point (?) after every question. 

The exclamation point (!) after exclamations; as, Alas! Oh, how 
lovely! 

Quotation marks (“ ”) enclose quoted expressions; as, Socrates said: 
“I believe the soul is immortal.” 

A colon (:)is used between parts of a sentence that are subdivided by 
semicolons. 

A colon is used before a quotation, enumeration, or observation, that 
is introduced by as follows , the following , or any similar expression; as, 
Send me the following: 10 doz. “Armstrong’s Treasury.” 

A semicolon (;) between parts that are subdivided by commas. 

The semicolon is used also between clauses or members that are dis¬ 
connected in sense; as, Man grows old; he passes away; all is uncertain. 
When as, namely, that is, is used to introduce an example or enumera¬ 
tion, a semicolon is put before it and a comma after it; as, The nierht 
was cold; that is, for the time of year. 

A comma (,) is used to set off co-ordinate clauses, and subordinate 
clauses not restrictive; as, Good deeds are never lost, though sometimes 
forgotten. 

A comma is -used to set off transposed phrases and clauses; as, “When 
the wicked entice thee, consent thou not.” 

A comma is used to set off interposed words, phrases and clauses; as, 
Let us, if we can, make others happy. 



LANGUAGE : ITS USE AND MISUSE . 


65 


A comma is used between similar or repeated words or phrases; as, 
The sky, the water, the trees, were illumined with sunlight. 

A comma is used to mark an ellipsis, or the omission of a verb or 
other important word. 

A comma is used to set off a short quotation informally introduced- 
as, Who said, “The good die young”? 

A comma is used whenever necessary to prevent ambiguity. 

The marks of parenthesis () are used to enclose an interpolation where 
such interpolation is by the writer or speaker of the sentence in which it 
occurs. Interpolations by an editor or by anyone other than the author 
of the sentence, should be inclosed in brackets, [ ]. 

Dashes (—) may be used to set off a parenthetical expression, also to 
denote an interruption or a sudden change of thought or a significant 
pause. 

THE USE OF CAPITALS. 

1. Every entire sentence should begin with a capital. 

2. Proper names, and adjectives derived from these, should begin 
with a capital. 

3. All appellations of the Deity should begin with a capital. 

4. Official and honorary titles begin with a capital. 

5. Every line of poetry should begin with a capital. 

6. Titles of books and the heads of their chapters and divisions are 
printed in capitals. 

7. The pronoun I, and the exclamation, O, are always capitals. 

8. The days of the week, and the months of the year, begin with 
capitals. 

9. Every quotation should begin with a capital letter. 

10. Names of religious denominations begin with capitals. 

11. In preparing accounts, each item should begin with a capital. 

12. Any word of special importance may begin with a capital. 


ANALYSIS OF VOLAPUK. 

Numerous efforts have been made for two centuries past to found a 
universal language, but these have all seemed to lack some important 
particular of success. The most recent attempt in this line is much more 
promising than any which has preceded it. Volapuk is the invention of 
the Rev. Dr. Johan Martin Schleyer, of Baden, Germany, an accom¬ 
plished linguistic student. He can speak and write, it is said, twenty- 
eight languages. He had been working upon his universal language 
scheme for some time when in 1879 he announced it, and he had so far 
perfected the plan of it in 1880 as to publish a pamphlet concerning it. 
The name is from vola, of the world, and puk, language. It is founded 
on the model of the Aryan tongues, the signs representing letters and 
words, not ideas; and all the root words, or nearly all, are taken from 
living modern tongues, the English being used to a much greater extent 
than any other language. The Roman alphabet is used, with some Ger¬ 
man dotted letters, and the continental sounds are given to all letters. 
All words are phonetically spelled. The Arabic numerals are used, and 
the names of the numbers are indicated by the use of the vowels in reg¬ 
ular order. All plurals are formed in “s.” All verbs are regular, and 
there is only one conjugation. Tenses are shown by vowels before the 
verbs; preceding these vowels by “p” gives the passive voice. The per¬ 
il. I.—5 




66 


MANUAL OF USEFUL IN FORM A TION. 


sonal pronoun placed after the root shows the person. One advantage 
of this language is that it can be learned very quickly. It is estimated 
that over 10,000 persons in Europe have mastered it, and it has been tried 
to some extent in this country also. If it could be adopted in commer¬ 
cial transactions between nations speaking different languages it would, 
no doubt, prove a very great advantage as well as an economy. 


THE MEANING OF CHRISTIAN NAMES. 

To trace the origin of names is always a pleasing and interesting 
task. We have prepared for our readers the subjoined list of Christian 
or first names of men and women: 

CHRISTIAN NAMES OF MEN. 


Aaron, Hebrew, a mountain, a loft. 

Abel, Hebrew , vanity. 

Abraham, Hebreiv, the father of many. 
Absalom, Hebrew , the father of peace. 
Adam, Hebrew , red earth. 

Adolphus, Saxon , happiness and help. 
Adrian, Latin , one who helps. 

Alan, Celtic, harmony; or Slavonic, a 
hound. 

Albert, Saxon, all bright. 

Alexander, Greek , a helper of men. 

Alfred, Saxon , all peace. 

Alonzo, form of Alphonso, q. v. 

Alphonso, German , ready or willing. 
Ambrose, Greek , immortal. 

Amos, Hebrew , a burden. 

Andrew, Greek , courageous. 

Anthony, Latin , flourishing. 

Archibald, German , a bold observer. 
Arnold, German , a maintainer of honor. 
Arthur, British, a strong man. 

Augustin,' [ Latin ' veuerable ’ £ raud - 
Baldwin, German, a bold winner. 
Bardulph, German , a famous helper. 
Barnaby, Hebrew, a prophet’s son. 
Bartholomew, Hebrew, the son of him who 
made the waters to rise. 

Beaumont, French , a pretty mount. 

Bede, Saxon, prayer. 

Benjamin, Hebrew,the son of a right hand. 
Bennet, Latin, blessed. 

Bernard, German, bear’s heart. 

Bertram, German, fair, illustrious. 
Bertrand, German, bright raven. 

Boniface, Latin, a well doer. 

Brian, French, having a thundering voice. 
Cadwallader, British, valiant in war. 
Csesar, Latin, adorned with hair. 

Caleb, Hebrew , a dog. 

Cecil, Latin, dim-sighted. 

Charles, German, noble-spirited. 
Christopher, Greek, bearing Christ. 
Clement, Latin, mild tempered. 

Conrad, German, able counsel. 
Constantine, Latin, resolute. 

Cornelius, Latin , meaning uncertain. 
Crispin, Lathi , having curled locks. 
Cuthbert, Saxon, known famously. 

Dan, Hebrew, judgment. 

Daniel, Hebrew, God is judge. 

David, Hebrew, well-beloved. 

Denis, Greek, belonging to the God of 
wine. 


Douglas, Gaelic, dark gray. 

Duncan, Saxon, brown chief. 

Dunstan, Saxon, most high. 

Edgar, Saxon, happy honor. 

Edmund, Saxon, happy peace. 

Edward, Saxon , happy keeper. 

Edwin, Saxon, happy conqueror. 

Egbert, Saxon, ever bright. 

Elijah, Hebreiv, God the Ford. 

Elisha, Hebreiv, the salvation of God. 
Emmanuel, Hebrew , God with us. 

Enoch, Hebrew, dedicated. 

Ephraim, Hebrew, fruitful. 

Erasmus, Greek, lovely, worthy to be 
loved. 

Ernest, Greek, earnest, serious. 

Esau, Hebrew, hairy. 

Eugene, Greek, noble, descended. 

Eustace, Greek, standing firm. 

Evan or Ivan, British , the same as John. 
Everard, German, well reported. 

Ezekiel, Hebrew, the strength of God. 
Felix, Latin, happy. 

Ferdinand, German, pure peace. 

Fergus, Saxon, manly strength. 

Francis, German, free. 

Frederic, German, rich peace. 

Gabriel, Hebrew, the strength of God. 
Goeffrey, German, joyful. 

George, Greek, a husbandman. 

Gerard, Saxon, strong with a spear. 
Gideon, Hebrew, a breaker. 

Gilbert, Saxon, bright as gold. 

Giles, Greek, a little goat. 

Godard, German, a godly disposition. 
Godfrey, German, God’s peace. 

Godwin, German, victorious in God. 
Griffith, British, having great faith. 

Guy, French, a leader. 

Hannibal, Punic, a gracious lord. 

Harold, Saxon, a champion. 

Hector, Greek , a stout defender. 

Henry, German, a rich lord. 

Herbert, German, a bright lord. 

Hercules, Greek, the glory of Hera or Juno. 
Hezekiah, Hebrew, cleaving to the Ford. 
Horace, Latin, meaning uncertain. 
Horatio, Italian, worthy to be beheld. 
Howell, British, sound or whole. 

Hubert, German, a bright color. 

Hugh, Dutch, high, lofty. 

Humphrey, German , domestic peace. 
Ignatius, Latin, fierv. 

Ingram, German, of angelic purity. 



LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


G7 


Isaac, Hebrew, laughter. 

Jabez, Hebrew, one who causes pain. 
Jacob, Hebrew , a supplauter. 

James or Jacques, beguiliug. 

Joab, Hebrew , Fatherhood. 

Job, Hebrew, sorrowing. 

Joel, Hebrew, acquiescing. 

John, Hebrew, the grace of the Ford. 
Jonah, He brew, a dove. 

Jonathan, Hebrew , the gift of the Ford. 
Josceliu, German, just. 

Joseph, Hebrew, addition. 

Joshua, Hebrew , a Savior. 

Josiah or Josias, Hebrew, the fire of the 
Ford. 

Julius, Latin, soft hair. 

Fambert, Saxon , a fair lamb. 

Fancelot, Spanish , a little lance. 

Faurence, Latin , crowned with laurels. 
Fazarus, Hebrew , destitute of help. 
Feonard, German, like a lion. 

Feopold, German, defending the people. 
Fewis or Fouis, French , the defender ot 
the people. 

Fiouel, Latin, a little lion. 

Flewellin, British , like a lion. 

Flewellyn, Celtic , lightning. 

Fucius, Latin, shining. 

Fuke, Greek , a wood or grove. 

Manfred, German, great peace. 

Mark, Latin , a hammer. 

Martin, Latin , martial. 

Matthew, Hebrew, a gift or present. 
Maurice, Latin, sprung of a Moor. 
Meredith, British, the roaring of the sea. 
Michael, Hebrew, Who is like God ? 
Morgan, British, a mariner. 

Moses, Hebrew, drawn out. 

Nathaniel, Hebrew , the gift of God. 

Neal, French, somewhat black. 

Nicholas, Greek, victorious over the people. 
Noel, French, belonging to one’s nativity. 
Norman, French, one born in Normandy. 
Obadiah, Hebrew, the servant of the Ford. 
Oliver, Latin, an olive. 

Orlando, Italian, counsel for the land 
Orson, Latin, a bear. 

Osmund, Saxon, house peace. 

Oswald, Saxon, ruler of a house. 

Owen, British, well descended. 

Patrick, Latin, a nobleman. 

Paul, Latin, small, little. 

Paulinus, Latin, little Paul. 

CHRISTIAN 

Ada, German, same as Edith, q. v. 

Adela, German, same as Adeline, q. v. 
Adelaide, German, same as Adeline, , 
Adeline, German, a princess. 

Agatha, Greek, good. 

Agnes, German, chaste. 

Alethea, Greek, the truth. 

Althea, Greek, hunting. 

Alice, Alicia, German, noble. 

Alma, Latin , benignant. 

Amabel, Latin, lovable. 

Amy, Amelia, French , a beloved. 

Angelina, Greek, lovely, angelic. 

Anna, or Anne, Hebrew , gracious. 

Arabella, Latin, a fair altar. 

Aureola, Latin, like gold. 


Percival, French , a place in France. 

Percy, English, adaptation of “pierce e3 - e.” 
Peregrine, Latin, outlandish. 

Peter, Greek, a rock or stone. 

Philip, Greek, a lover of horses. 

Phineas, Hebrew , of bold countenance. 
Ralph, contracted from Randolph, or 
Randal, or Ranulph, Saxon , pure help. 
Raymond, German, quiet peace. 

Reuben, Hebrew, the son of vision. 
Reynold, German, a lover of purity. 
Richard, Saxon , powerful. 

Robert, German, famous in counsel. 
Roderick, German, rich in fame. 

Roger, German, strong counsel. 

Roland or Rowland, German, counsel for 
the land. 

Rollo, form of Roland, q. v. 

Rufus, Latin, reddish. 

Samson, Hebrew, a little son. 

Samuel, Hebrew, heard by God. 

Saul, Hebrew, desired. 

Sebastian, Greek, to be reverenced. 

Seth, Hebrew, appointed. 

Silas, Latin, sylvan or living in the woods. 
Simeon, Hebrew, hearing. 

Simon, Hebrezu, obedient. 

Solomon, Hebrew, peaceable. 

Stephen, Greek, a crown or garland. 
Swithin, Saxon, very high. 

Theobald, Saxon, bold over the people. 
Theodore, Greek, the gift of God. 
Theodosius, Greek, given of God. 
Theophilus, Greek, a lover of God. 

Thomas, Hebrew, a twin. 

Timothy, Greek, a fearer of God. 

Titus, Greek, meaning uncertain. 

Toby, or Tobias, Hebrew, the goodness of 
the Ford. 

Valentine, Latin, powerful. 

Victor, Latin , conqueror. 

Vincent, Latin, conquering. 

Vivian, Latin, living. 

Walter, German, a conqueror. 

Walwin, German , a conqueror. 

Wilfred, Saxon , bold and peaceful. 
William, German, defending many. 
Zaccheus, Syriac, innocent. 

Zachary, Hebrezu, remembering the Ford. 
Zachariah, Hebrew, remembered of the 
Ford. 

Zebedee, Syriac, having an inheritance. 
Zedekiah, Hebrew, the justice of the Ford- 

A.MES OF WOMEN. 

Aurora, Latin, morning brightness. 
Barbara, Latin , foreign or strange - 
Beatrice, Latin, making happy. 

Bella, Italian, beautiful. 

Benedicta, Latin, blessed. 

Bernice, Greek , bringing victory. 

Bertha, Greek, bright or famous. 

Bessie, short form of Elizabeth, q. v. 
Blanch, French, fair. 

Bona, Latin, good. 

Bridget, Irish, shining bright 
Camilla, Latin, attendant at a sacrifice. 
Carlotta, Italian, same as Charlotte, q. v. 
Caroline, feminine of Carolus, the Latin of 
Charles, noble spirited. 

Cassandra, Greek, a reformer of men. 


68 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Catherine, Greek, pure or clean. 

Cecilia, Latin, from Cecil. 

Cecily, a corruption tf/" Cecilia, q. v. 

Charity, Greek , love, bounty. 

Charlotte, French , all noble. 

Chloe, Greek, a green herb. 

Christiana, Greek , belonging to Christ. 
Clara, Latin , clear or bright. 

Clarissa, Latin , clear or bright. 

Constance, Latin , constant. 

Dagraar, German , joy of the Danes. 
Deborah, Hebrew, a bee. 

Diana, Greek , Jupiter’s daughter. 

Dorcas, Greek, a wild rose. 

Dorothea or Dorothy, Greek , the gift of 
God. 

Edith, Saxon, happiness. 

Eleanor, Saxon , all fruitful. 

Eliza, Elizabeth, Hebrew , the oath of God. 
Ellen, another form o/Helen, 

Emily, corrupted from Amelia. 

Emma, German, a nurse. 

Esther, Hesther, Hebrew , secret. 

Eudoia, Greek, prospering in the way. 
Eudora, Greek, good gift. 

Eudosia, Greek , good gift or well-given. 
Eugenia, French, well-born. 

Eunice, Greek, fair victory. 

Eva, or Eve, Hebrew , causing life. 

Fanny, diminutive of Frances, <7. 

Fenella, Greek, bright to look on. 

Flora, Latin , flowers. 

Florence, Latin, blooming, flourishing. 
Frances, German , free. 

Gertrude, German , all truth. 

Grace, Latin, favor. 

Hagar, Hebrew, a stranger. 

Hadassah, Hebrezv, form of Esther, za 

Hannah, Hebrezv, gracious. 

Harriet, German, head of the house. 
Helen, or Helena, Greek, alluring. 
Henrietta, fern, and dim. of Henry, q. v. 
Hephzibah, Hebrew, my delight is in her. 
Hilda, German, warrior maiden. 

Honora, Latin, honorable. 

Huldah, Hebrew, a weazel. 

Isabella, Spanish , fair Eliza. 

Jane, or Jeanne, fern, of John, q. v. 

Janet, Jeanette, little Jane. 

Jemima, Hebrew, a dove. 

Joan, Hebrew, fern. 0/John, q. v. 

Joanna, or Johanna, form of] oan, q. v. 
Joyce, French, pleasant. 

Judith, Hebrew, praising. 

Julia, Juliana, feminine of Julius, q. v. 
Katherine, form (^Catherine, q. v. 
Keturah, Hebrew, incense. 

Kezsiah, Hebrew , cassia. 

Laura, Latin , a laurel. 

Eaviuia, Latin, of Eatium.. 

Eetitia, Latin , joy or gladness. 

Lilian, Lily, Latin, a lily. 

Lois, Greek, better. 

Louisa, German, fern, of Louis, q. v. 
Lucretia, Latin , a chaste Romau lady. 


Lucy, Latin, feminine 0/Lucius. 

Lydia, Greek, descended from Lud. 

Mabel, Latin, lovely or lovable. 

Madeline, form of Magdalen, q. v. 
Magdalen, Syriac, magnificent. 

Margaret, Greek , a pearl. 

Maria, Marie, forms o/Mary, q. v. 

Martha, Hebrezv, bitterness. 

Mary, Hebrew, bitter. 

Matilda, German, a lady of honor. 

Maud, German form o/Matilda, q. v. 

May, Latin, month of May, or dim. of 
Mary, q. v. 

Merc}', English, compassion. 

Mildred, Saxon, speaking mild. 

Minnie, dim. of Margaret, q. v. 

Naomi, Hebrew, alluring. 

Nest, British , the same as Agnes. 

Nicola, Greek, feminine o/'Nicholas. 

Olive, Olivia, Latin, an olive. 

Olympia, Greek, heavenly. 

Ophelia, Greek, a serpe’nt. 

Parnell, or Petronilla, little Peter. 

Patience, Latin, bearing patiently. 

Paulina, Latin, feminine o/Paulinus. 
Penelope, Greek, a weaver. 

Persis, Greek, destroying. 

Philadelphia, Greek, brotherly love. 
Philippa, Greek , feminine of Philip. 
Phoebe, Greek, the light of life. 

Phyllis, Greek, a green bough. 

Polly, variation e/Mollv, dim. of Mary, q.v. 
Priscilla, Latin, somewhat old. 

Prudence, Latin, discretion. 

Pysche, Greek, the soul. 

Rachel, Hebrew, a lamb. 

Rebecca, Hebrew, fat or plump. 

Rhoda, Greek , a rose. 

Rosa, or Rose, Latin, a rose. 

Rosalie, or Rosaline, Latin, little Rose. 
Rosalind, Latin , beautiful as a rose. 
Rosabella, Italian , a fair rose. 

Rosamond, Saxon, Rose of peace. 

Roxana, Persian, dawn of day. 

Ruth, Hebrezv, trembling, or beauty. 
Sabina, Latin, sprung from the Sabines. 
Salome, Hebrew, perfect. 

Sapphira, Greek, like a sapphire stone. 
Sarah, Hebrezv, a princess. 

Selina, Greek, the moon. 

Sibylla, Greek , the counsel of God. 

Sophia, Greek, wisdom. 

Sophronia, Greek , of a sound mind 
Susan, Susanna, Hebrezv, a lily. 

Tabitha, Syriac , a roe. 

Temperance, Latin, moderation. 
Theodosia, Greek, given by God. 

Trvphena, Greek, delicate" 

Tryphosa, Greek, delicious. 

Victoria, Latin, victory. 

Vida, Erse, feminine of David. 

Ursula, Latin, a she bear. 

Walburga, Saxon, gracious. 

Winifred, Saxon, winning peace. 

Zenobia, Greek, life from Jupiter. 


- 1 

A PLIABLE LANGUAGE. 

The flexibility of the English language is in no way better illus¬ 
trated than by the use made of it by sportsmen in designating particular 



LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


69 


groups of animals. The following 
been applied to the various classes: 
A covey of patridges. 

A nide of pheasants. 

A wisp of snipe. 

A flight of doves or swallows. 

A muster of peacocks. 

A siege of herons. 

A building of rooks. 

A brood of grouse. 

A plump of wild fowl. 

A stand of plovers. 

A watch of nightingales. 

A clattering of doughs. 

A flock of geese. 

A herd or bunch of cattle. 

A bevy of quails. 


is a list of the terms which have 


A cast of hawks. 

A trip of dottrell. 

A swarm of bees. 

A school of whales. 
A shoal of herrings. 
A herd of swine. 

A skulk of foxes. 

A pack of wolves. 

A drove of oxen. 

A sounder of hogs. 

A troop of monkeys. 
A pride of lions. 

A sleuth of bears. 

A gang of elk. 


GUIDE TO CORRECT PRONUNCIATION. 

Accent is a particular stress or force of the voice upon certain sylla¬ 
bles or words. This mark ' in printing denotes the syllable upon which 
the stress or force of the voice should be placed. 

A word may have more than one accent. Take as an instance aspira¬ 
tion. In uttering this word we give a marked emphasis of the voice 
upon the first and third syllables, and therefore those syllables are said 
to be accented. The first of these accents is less distinguishable than the 
second, upon which we dwell longer, therefore the second accent in point 
of order is called the primary, or chief accent of the word. 

When the full accent falls on a vowel, that vowel should have a long 
sound, as in vo'cal; but when it falls on or after a consonant, the preced¬ 
ing vowel has a short sound, as in hab'it. 

To obtain a good knowledge of pronunciation, it is advisable for the 
reader to listen to the examples given by good speakers, and by educated 
persons. We learn the pronunciation of words, to a great extent, by 
imitation , just as birds acquire the notes of other birds which may be 
near them. 

But it will be very important to bear in mind that there are many 
words having a double meaning or application, and that the difference of 
meaning is indicated by the difference of the accent. Among these 
words, nouns are distinguished from verbs by this means: nouns are 
mostly accented on the first syllable, and verbs on the last. 

Noun signifies name: nouns are the names of persons and things, as 
well as of things not material and palpable, but of which we have a con¬ 
ception and knowledge, such as courage , firmness , goodness , strength; 
and verbs express actions , movements , etc. If the word used signifies 
that anything has been done, or is being done, or is, or is to be done, 
then that word is a verb. 

Thus when we say that anything is “an in'sult,” that word is a noun , 
and is accented on the first syllable; but when we say he did it “to insult 
another person,” the word insult' implies acting and becomes a verb , 
and should be accented on the last syllable. 

A list of nearly all the words that are liable to similar variation is 
given here. It will be noticed that those in the first column, having the 
accent on the first syllable, are mostly nouns; and that those in the 
second column, which have the accent on the second and final syllable, 
are mostly verbs:— 




70 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Noun, etc. 


.Verb, etc. 


Noun , etc. Verb, etc. [ Noun , <f/c. Verb, etc. 


Ab'ject 

Ab'sent 

Ab'strac 

Ac'cent 

Affix 

As'pect 

At'tribute 

Augment 

Au'gust 

Bom'bard 

Col'league 

Col'lect 

Comment 

Com'pact 

Com'plot 

Com'port 

Com'pound 

Compress 

Con'cert 

Con Crete 

Con'duct 

Con fine 

Conflict 

Conserve 

Con'sort 

Con'test 

Con'text 

Con'tract 


abject' 

absent' 

abstract' 

accent' 

affix’ 

aspect' 

attrib'ute 

augment' 

august' 

bombard' 

colleague' 

collect' 

comment’ 

compact' 

complot' 

comport' 

compound' 

compress' 

concert' 

concrete' 

conduct' 

confine' 

conflict' 

conserve' 

consort' 

contest' 

context' 

contract 


Con trast 

Con'verse 

Con vert 

Con 'vict 

Con'voy 

De'crease 

Des'cant 

Des'ert 

De tail 

Di'gest 

Discord 

Dis'count 

Efflux 

Es'cort 

Es say 

Ex'ile 

Ex'port 

Ex tract 

Ferment 

Fore'cast 

Fore'taste 

Frequent 

Impart 

Im'port 

Im press 

Im print 

In'cense 

Increase 


contrast' 

converse' 

convert' 

convict' 

convoy' 

decrease' 

descant' 

desert' 

detail' 

digest' 

discord' 

discount' 

efflux' 

escort' 

essay' 

exile' 

export' 

extract' 

ferment' 

forecast' 

foretaste' 

frequent' 

impart' 

import' 

impress' 

imprint' 

incense' 

increase' 


In'lay 

In'su t 

Ob'ject 

Out'leap 

Per feet per 

Per'fume 

Per m it 

Pre'fix 

Prem'ise 

Presage 

Pres ent 

Produce 

Project 

Pro test 

Reb'el 

Record 

Refuse 

Re'tail 

Sub'ject 

Su'pine 

Survey 

Tor'ment 

Tra'jtct 

Transfer 

Trans'port 

Un'dress 

Up cast 

Upstart 


inlay' 
insult' 
object' 
outleap' 
feet or perfect' 
perfume' 
permit' 
prefix' 
premise' 
presage' 
present' 
produce' 
project' 
protest' 
rebel' 
record’ 
refuse' 
retail' 
subject' 
supine' 
survey' 
torment' 
traject' 
transfer' 
transport' 
undress' 
upcast' 
upstart' 


RULES OF PRONUNCIATION. 

C before a , o, and u, and in some other situations, is a close articula¬ 
tion, like k. Before e, i, and y, c is precisely equivalent to s in same, 
this; as in cedar, civil, cypress, capacity. 

E final indicates that the preceding vowel is long; as in hate, mete, 
sire, robe, lyre, abate, recede, invite, remote, intrude. 

E final indicates that c preceding has the sound of s; as in lace , lance; 
and that^ preceding has the sound of j, as in charge , page, challenge. 

E final in proper English words, never forms a syllable, and in the 
most used words, in the terminating unaccented syllable it is silent. 
Thus, motive , genuine, examine, granite, are pronounced motiv, genuin, 
examin, granit. 

E final, in a few words of foreign origin, forms a syllable; as syncope, 
simile. 

E final is silent after l in the following terminations,— ble, cle, die, 
fie, gle, kle, pie, tie, zle; as in able, manacle, cradle, ruffle, mangle, 
wrinkle, supple, rattle, piizzle, which are pronounced ab'l, mana'cle, 
cra'dl, rufjl, man'gl, wrin'kl, sup'pi, puz'zl. 

E is usually silent in the termination en; as in token, broken; pro¬ 
nounced tokn, brokn. 

OUS in the termination of adjectives and their derivatives is pro¬ 
nounced us; as in gracious, pious, pompously. 

CE, Cl, Tl, before a vowel, have the sound of sh; as in cetaceous, 
gracious, motion, partial, ingratiate; pronounced cetashus, grashus, 
moshun, parshal, ingrashiate. 

SI, after an accented vowel, is pronounced like zh; as in Ephesian , 
confusion; pronounced Epezhan, confuzhon. 

GH, both in the middle and at the end of words is silent; as in caught 
bought, fright, nigh, sigh ; pronounced caut, baut, frite, ni, si. In the, 
following exceptions, however, gh is pronounced as f: — cough , chough, 
dough, enough, laugh, rough, slough, tough, trough. 




LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE . 


71 


When WH begins a word, the aspirate h precedes w in pronuncia¬ 
tion: as in what, whiff, whale; pronounced hwat, hwiff , hwale, ze/ hav¬ 
ing precisely the sound of 00, French ou. In the following words w is 
silent:— who, whom, whose , whoop, whole. 

H after r has no sound or use; as in rheum, rhyme; pronounced reum, 
ryme. 

H should be sounded in the middle of words; as in forehead, ab^or, 
behold, exhaust, inhabit, un/zorse. 

H should always be sounded except in the following words;—heir, 
herb, honest, honor, hour, humor, and humble, and all their derivatives, 
—such as humorously, derived from humor. 

K and G are silent before n; as know, gnaw; pronounced no, naw. 

W before r is silent; as in wring , wreath: pronounced ring, reath. 

B after m is silent; as in dumb, numb; pronounced dum, num. 

L before k is silent as in balk, walk, talk; pronounced bank, wauk, 
tauk. 

PH has the sound of f; as in philosophy; pronounced filosofy. 

NG has two sounds, one as in singer , the other as in fin-ger. 

N after m, and closing a syllable, is silent; as in hymn, condemn. 

P before s and t is mute; as in psalm, pseudo, ptarmigan; pronounced 
salm, sudo, tarmigan. 

R has two sounds, one strong and vibrating, as at the beginning of 
words and syllables, such as robber, reckon, error; the other is at the 
terminations of the words, or when succeeded by a consonant, as farmer, 
morn. 

There are other rules of pronunciation affecting the combinations 
of vowels, etc., but as they are more difficult to describe, and as they do 
not relate to errors which are commonly prevalent, it will suffice to give 
examples of them in the following list of words. When a syllable in any 
word in this list is printed in italics, accent or stress of voice should be 
laid on that syllable. 


COMMON ERRORS OF SPEECH. 


Again, usually pronounced a -gen, not as 
spelled. 

Alien, ale-yen , not a-li-en. 

Antipodes, an-/?/-o-dees. 

Apostle, as a-pos’l, without the t. 

Arch, artch in compounds of our own lan¬ 
guage, as in archbishop, archduke; but 
ark in words derived from the Greek, as 
archaic, ar-£a-ik; archaeology, ar-ke-o/-o- 
gy, archangel, ark-am-gel; archetype, 
ar-ke-type; archiepiscopal, ar-ke-e-/z'j- 
co-pal; archipelago, ar-ke-/W-a-go; ar¬ 
chives, ar-kivz, etc. 

Asia, n-shia. 

Asparagus, as spelled, not asparagrass. 

Aunt, ant, not a?£/nt. 

Awkward, awk-z vurd, not awk-wrrf. 

Bade, bad. 

Because, b e-caws, not be-cos. 

Been, bin. 

Beloved, as a verb, b e-luvd; as an adjective 
be-luv-ed. Blessed, cursed, etc., are sub¬ 
ject to the same rule. 

Beneath, with the th in breath, not with 
the th in breathe. 

Biog’raphy, as spelled, not beography. 

Caprice, capreece. 

Catch, as spelled, not ketch. 


Chaos, ka-oss. 

Charlatan, shar- latan. 

Chasm, kazm. 

Chasten, chasn. 

Chivalry, shiv- airy. 

Chemistry, kem'-is-try. 

Choir, kwire. 

Combat, kom- bat or kum-boX*- 
Conduit, kon- dit, kun-ddX. 

Corps, kor, the plural corps is pronounced 
korz. 

Covetous, cMz/-e-tus, not cuv-e-chus. 
Courteous, curt- yus. 

Courtesy, (politeness), czzr-te-sey. 

Courtesy (a lowering of the body), curt- sey 
Cresses, as spelled, not cr^-ses. 

Cu'riosity, cu-re-os-e-ty, not curasity. 
Cushion, coosh-un, not coosh-m. 

Daunt, dawnt, not dant or darnt. 

Design and desist have the sound of s , not 
of z. 

Desire should have the sound of z. 

Dew, due, not doo. 

Diamond, as spelled, not rfAmond. 
Diploma, de-/fo-ma, not cfz^-lo-ma. 
Diplomacy, de-/>/«9-ma-cy, not <fz>-lo-ma-ey. 
Divers (several), tfz'-verz; but diverse (dif¬ 
ferent), di-verse. 


72 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


Drought, drowt, not drawt. 

Duke, as spelled, uot dook. 

Dynasty, rfy-nas-ty, not dyn- as-te. 

Edict, c-dickt, not ctf-ickt. • 

E’en, and e’er, een and air. 

Egotism, c-go-tism, not ^g-o-tism. 

Either, c-ther. 

Engine, c«-jiu, not in- jin. 

Epistle, without the t. 

Epitome, e-/i/-o-me. 

Epoch, c/-ock, not c-pock. 

Equinox, c-qui-nox, not fj-kwe-nox, 
Europe, U- rup, not £/-rope. 

Euro-/>c-an, not Eu-rc-pean. 

Every, ev-er-y, not ev-ry. 

Executor, egz-cc-utor, not with the sound 
of x. 

Extraordinary, ex-Zrcr-di-ner-i, not ex¬ 
traordinary, nor extroruary. 

February, as spelled, uot Febuary. 
Finance, y?-uans, notybuance. 

Foundling, as spelled, not fond- ling. 
Garden, gar- dn, not gar-den, nor garding. 
Gauntlet, gawnt-let, not.gazzZ-let. 
Geography, as spelled, not /ography, or 
gehography. 

Geometry, as spelled, not jotn-e try. 

Haunt, hawnt, not hant. 

Height, hite, not highth. 

Heinous, hay- nus, not hee- nus. 

Horizon, ho -ri-zn, uot hor i zon. 
Hymeneal, hy men eal, not hy menal. 
Instead, in -sted, not instid. 

Isolate, i-so-late, not iz- olate, nor w-olate. 
Jalap, jal-ap, notjolup. 

January, as spelled, not Jenuary nor 
Jane wary. 

Leave, as spelled, not leaf. 

Legend, lej-end, or Zc-gend. 

Many, men- ney, not man-ny. 

Marchioness, war-shun-ess, not as spelled. 
Massacre, was-sa-ker. 

Mattress, as spelled, not wmZ-trass. 
Mati'on, ma- trun, not mat-ron. 

Medicine, med-e- ciu, not med- cin. 

Minute (sixty seconds), min- it. 

Minute (small), mi -mite. 

Mischievous, wz's-chiv-us, not mis-cheev-ns. 
Ne’er, for never, nare. 

New, nu, not noo. 

Oblige, as spelled, not obleege. 

Oblique, ob -leek, or o -blike. 

Odorous. <?-der-us, not orf-ur-us. 

Of, ov, except when compounded with 
there, here, and where, which should be 
pronounced here-o/, there-c/, and where- 


Ostricli, 05-trich, not cs-tridge. 

Pageant, paj-o\ it, not pa- jant. 

Parent, pat e-e nt, not par-e nt. 

Partisan, par- te-zan, not par-te-zan, nor 
par- ti-zan. 

Physiognomy, as fz-i-og-nomy, not physi- 
ounomy. 

Pincers, piti- cerz, not pinch-erz. 

Plaintiff, as spelled, uot plautiff. 

Precedent (an example, pres-e- dent; pre¬ 
cedent (going before in point of time, 
previous, former) is the pronunciation ot 
the adjective. 

Prologue, pro- log, not prol-og. 

Radish, as spelled, not red-ish. 

Raillery, rail'er-y, or ral-e r-y, not as 
spelled. 

Rather, ra- ther, not rayther. 

Resort, re-zort. 

Resound, s e-zound. 

Respite, res- pit, not as spelled. 

Rout <a party; and to rout; should be pro¬ 
nounced rowt. Route (a road’, root or 
rowt. 

Saunter, sawn-ter, not sarn- ter or san- ter. 

Sausage, sa 7 v- sage, not soj-sidge, .sas-sage. 

Schedule, j£crf-ule, uot shed- 7 </c. 

Seamstress is pronounced jccw-stress, or 
sow-stress. 

Shire, as spelled, when uttered as a single 
word, but shortened into shir in compo- 
tion. 

Shone, shon, not shun, nor as spelled. 

Soldier, scZc-jer. 

Solecism, soZ-e-cizm, not so-le-cizm. 

Soot, as spelled, not sut. 

Sovereign, sow-er-in, orsuv-er-in. 

Specious, s/c-shus, not spesh- us. 

Stomacher, sZ?*wz-a-cher. 

Stone (weight), as spelled, not stun. 

Synod, szw-od, not sy-nod. 

Tenure, ten-ure, notZc-nure. 

Tenet, ten-e t, not Zc-net. 

Thau, as spelled, notthun. 

Twelfth should have the th sounded. 

Umbrella, as spelled, not um-ber-el-la. 

Vase, vaiz or vahz, not vawze. 

Was, woz, not wuz. 

Weary, weer-i, not wary. 

Were, wer, not ware. 

Wrath, ath, (as in arm) not rath; as an ad¬ 
jective it is spelled wroth, and pro¬ 
nounced with the vowel sound shorter, 
as in wrathful, etc. 

Yacht, yot, not yat. 

Zenith, ze-nith or zeti-ith. 

Zodiac, 2-o-de-ak. 

Zoology should have both o' s sounded as 
zo-ol-o-gy, not zoo-lo-gy. 


of. 

Off, as spelt, not awf. _ 
Organization, or-gan-i-^a-shun. 


—ace, not iss, as furnace, not furnm, 

—age, not idge, as cabbage, courage, postage, village. 

—ain, ane, not in, as certain, cert ane, not cert in. 

—ate, not it, as modem/*?, not inoderzV. 

—ect, not ec, as asp<?zr/, not asp<?zy subj ect, not subjVo 
—ed, not id, or ud, as wicked, not wick/d, or wickwd. 

—el, not 1, model, not modi', novel , not novl. 

Note. —The tendency of all good elocutionists is to pronounce as nearly in accord¬ 
ance with the spelling as possible. 



LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


73 


—en, not n, as sudd^/z, not suddzz.—Burden, burthen, garden, 
lengthen, seven, strengthen, often, and a few others, have the e 
silent. 

—ence, .not unce, as influence, not influ -tmce. 

—es, not is, as please, not pleaszs. 

—ile, should be pronounced il, as fertz'/, not fertz'/e, in all words ex¬ 
cept chamomile, (< cam ), exile, gentile, infantile, reconcile, and 
senile, which should be pronounced ile. 

—in, not n, as Latz'zz, not Lat n. 

—nd, not n, as husband, not husbazzd, thousazz, not thousazz. 

—ness, not nzss, as carefulness, not carefulnz'ss. 

—ng, not n, as singizz^, not singizz/ speakzzz^, not speakzzz. 

—ngth, not nth, as strezzgth, not strezzth. 

—son, the o should be silent; as in treason, tre-zn , not tre-son. 

—tal, not tie, as capi tal, not capi tie; metal, not mett/<?; mor tal, not 
mor tie; periodica/, not periodi cle. 

—xt, not x, as next, not nex. 


TWELVE THOUSAND SYNONYMS AND ANTONYMS. 

No two words in the English language have exactly the same signif¬ 
icance, but to express the precise meaning that one intends to convey, 
and to avoid repetition, it is often desirable to have at hand a Dictionary 
of Synonyms. Take President Cleveland’s famous phrase, “innocuous 
desuetude.’’ If he had said simply, “harmless disuse,’’ it would have 
sounded clumsy, whereas the words he used expressed the exact shade 
of meaning, besides giving the world a new phrase and the newspapers 
something to talk about. 

The following list of Synonyms, while not exhaustive, is quite com¬ 
prehensive, and by cross-reference will answer most requirements. The 
appended Antonyms, or words of opposite meaning, enclosed in paren¬ 
theses, will also be found extremely valuable, for one of the strongest fig¬ 
ures of speech is antithesis , or contrast: 

Abandon, leave, forsake, desert, renounce, relinquish, quit, forego, 
let go, waive. (Keep, cherish.) Abandoned, deserted, forsaken, wicked, 
reprobate, dissolute, profligate, flagitious, corrupt, depraved, vicious. 
(Cared for, virtuous.) Abandonment, leaving, desertion, dereliction, 
renunciation, defection. Abasement, degradation, fall, degeneracy, 
humiliation, abjection, debasement, servility. (Honor.) Abash, be¬ 
wilder, disconcert, discompose, confound, confuse, shame. (Embolden.) 
Abbreviate, shorten, abridge, condense, contract, curtail, reduce. (Ex¬ 
tend.) Abdicate, give up, resign, renounce, abandon, forsake, relin¬ 
quish, quit, forego. Abet, help, encourage, instigate, incite, stimulate, 
aid, assist. (Resist.) Abettor, assistant, accessory, accomplice, pro¬ 
moter, instigator, particeps criminis , coadjutor, associate, companion, 
co operator. (Opponent.) Abhor, dislike intensely, view with horror, 
hate, detest, abominate, loathe, nauseate. (Love.) Ability, capability, 
talent, faculty, capacity, qualification, aptitude, aptness, expertness, skill, 
efficiency, accomplishment, attainment. (Incompetency.) Abject, 
grovelling, low, mean, base, ignoble, worthless, despicable, vile, servile, 
contemptible. (Noble.) Abjure, recant, forswear, disclaim, recall, re¬ 
voke, retract, renounce. (Maintain.) AbeE, strong, powerful, muscu¬ 
lar, stalwart, vigorous, athletic, robust, brawny,' skillful, adroit, compe¬ 
tent, efficient, capable, clever, self-qualified, telling, fitted. (Weak.) 



74 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Abode, residence, habitation, dwelling, domicile, home, quarters, lodg¬ 
ings. Abolish, quash, destroy, revoke, abrogate, annul, cancel, anni¬ 
hilate, extinguish, vitiate, invalidate, nullify. (Establish, enforce.) 
Abominable, hateful, detestable, odious, vile, execrable. (Lovable.) 
Abortive, fruitless, ineffectual, idle, inoperative, vain, futile. (Effec¬ 
tual.) About, concerning, regarding, relative to, -with regard to, as to, 
respecting, with respect to, referring to, around, nearly, approximately. 
Abscond, run off, steal away, decamp, bolt. Absent, «., inattentive, 
abstracted, not attending to, listless, dreamy. (Present.) ABSOLUTE, 
entire, complete, unconditional, unqualified, unrestricted, despotic, ar¬ 
bitrary, tyrannous, imperative, authoritative, imperious. (Limited.) 
Absorb, engross, swallow up, engulf, imbibe, consume, merge, fuse. 
Absurd, silly, foolish, preposterous, ridiculous, irrational, unreasonable, 
nonsensical, inconsistent. (Wise, solemn.) Abuse, v., asperse, revile, 
vilify, reproach, calumniate, defame, slander, scandalize, malign, tra¬ 
duce, disparage, depreciate, ill-use. (Praise, protect.) Abuse, scur¬ 
rility, ribaldry, contumely, obloquy, opprobrium, foul, invective, vitu¬ 
peration, ill-usage. (Praise, protection.) Accede, assent to, consent, 
acquiesce, comply with, agree, coincide, concur, approve. (Protest.) 
ACCELERATE, hasten, hurry, expedite, forward, quicken, despatch. (Re¬ 
tard.) ACCEPT, receive, take, admit. (Refuse.) ACCEPTABLE, agree¬ 
able, pleasing, pleasurable, gratifying, welcome. (Displeasing.) ACCI¬ 
DENT, casualty, incident, contingency, adventure, chance. Accommo¬ 
date, serve, oblige, adapt, adjust, fit, suit. (Disoblige, impede.) Ac¬ 
complice, confederate, accessory, abettor, coadjutor, assistant, ally, 
associate, particeps criminis. (Adversary.) Accomplish, do, effect, 
finish, execute, achieve, complete, perfect, consummate. (Fail.) Ac¬ 
complishment, attainment, qualification, acquirement. (Defect.) Ac¬ 
cord, grant, allow, admit, concede. (Deny.) Accost, salute, address, 
speak to, stop, greet. Account, narrative, description, narration, rela¬ 
tion, detail, recital, moneys, reckoning, bill, charge. Accountable, 
punishable, answerable, amenable, responsible, liable. Accumulate, 
bring together, amass, collect, gather. (Scatter, dissipate.) Accumulation, 
collection, store, mass, congeries, concentration. Accurate, correct, 
exact, precise, nice, truthful. (Erroneous, careless.) Achieve, do, ac¬ 
complish, effect, fulfill, execute, gain, w T in. Achievement, feat, ex¬ 
ploit, accomplishment, attainment, performance, acquirement, gain. 
(Failure.) Ackowledge, admit, confess, own, avow, grant, recognize, 
allow, concede. (Deny.) Acquaint, inform, enlighten, apprise, make 
aware, make known, notify, communicate. (Deceive.) Acquaintance, 
familiarity, intimacy, cognizance, fellowship, companionship, knowl¬ 
edge. (Unfamiliarity.) ACQUIESCE, agree, accede, assent, comply, con¬ 
sent, give way, coincide with. (Protest.) Acquit, pardon, forgive, dis¬ 
charge, set free, clear, absolve. (Condemn, convict.) Act, do, operate, 
make, perform, play, enact. Action, deed, achievement, feat, exploit, 
accomplishment, battle, engagement, agency, instrumentality. Active, 
lively, sprightly, alert, agile, nimble, brisk, quick, supple, prompt, vigi¬ 
lant, laborious, industrious. (Lazy, passive.) Actual, real, positive, 
genuine, certain. (Fictitious.) Acute, shrewd, intelligent, penetrating, 
piercing, keen. (Dull.) Adapt, accommodate, suit, fit, conform. Ad¬ 
dicted, devoted, wedded, attached, given up to, dedicated. Addition, 
increase, accession, augmentation, reinforcement. (Subtraction, separa¬ 
tion.) Address, speech, discourse, appeal, oration, tact, skill, ability, 
dexterity, deportment, demeanor. Adhesion, adherence, attachment, 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


75 


fidelity, devotion. (Aloofness.) Adjacent, near to, adjoining, contigu¬ 
ous, conterminous, bordering, neighboring. (Distant.) Adjourn, defer, 
prorogue, postpone, delay. Adjunct, appendage, appurtenance, appen- 
dency, dependency. Adjust, set right, fit, accomodate, adapt, arrange, 
settle, regulate, organize. (Confuse.) Admirable, striking, surprising, 
wonderful, astonishing. (Detestable.) Admit, allow, permit, suffer, 
tolerate. (Deny.) Advantageous, beneficial. (Hurtful.) Affection, 
love. (Aversion.) Affectionate, fond, kind. (Harsh.) Agreeable, 
pleasant, pleasing, charming. (Disagreeable.) Alternating, halting, 
intermittent. (Continual.) Ambassador, envoy, plenipotentiary, min¬ 
ister. Amend, improve, correct, better, mend. (Impair.) Anger, ire, 
wrath, indignation, resentment. (Good nature.) Appropriate, as¬ 
sume, ascribe, arrogate, usurp. Argue, debate, dispute, reason upon. 
Arise, flow, emanate, spring, proceed, rise, issue. Artful, disingen¬ 
uous, sly, tricky, insincere. (Candid.) Artifice, trick, stratagem, 
finesse. Association, combination, company, partnership, society. 
Attack, assail, assault, encounter. (Defend.) Audacity, boldness, 
effrontery, hardihood. (Meekness.) Austere, rigid, rigorous, severe, 
stern. (Dissolute.) Avaricious, niggardly, miserly, parsimonious. 
(Generous.) Aversion, antipathy, dislike, hatred, repugnance. (Affec¬ 
tion.) Awe, dread, fear, reverence. (Familiarity.) Awkward, clumsy. 
(Graceful.) Axiom, adage, aphorism, apothegm, by-word, maxim, prov¬ 
erb, saying, saw. 

Babble, chatter, prattle, prate. Bad, wicked, evil. (Good.) Baffle, 
confound, defeat, disconcert. (Aid, abet.) Base, vile, mean. (Noble.) 
Battle, action, combat, engagement. Bear, carry, convey, transport. 
Bear, endure, suffer, support. Beastly, brutal, sensual, bestial. Beat, 
defeat, overpower, overthrow, rout. Beautiful, fine, handsome, pretty. 
(Homely, ugly.) Becoming, decent, fit, seemly, suitable. (Unbecoming.) 
BEG, beseech,crave, entreat, implore, solicit, supplicate.(Give.) Behavior, 
carriage, conduct, deportment, demeanor. BELIEF, credit, faith, trust. 
(Doubt.) BeneficiENT, bountiful, generous, liberal, munificent. (Cove¬ 
tous, miserly.) BENEFIT, favor, advantage, kindness, civility. (Injury.) 
Benevolence, beneficence, benignity, humanity, kindness, tenderness. 
(Malevolence.) Blame, censure, condemn, reprove, reproach, upbraid. 
(Praise.) Blemish, flaw, speck, spot, stain. (Ornament.) Blind, sightless, 
heedless. (Far-sighted.) Blot, cancel, efface, expunge, erase, obliterate. 
Bold, brave,daring, fearless, intrepid, undaunted. (Timid.) Border, brim, 
brink, edge, margin, rim, verge, boundary, confine, frontier. Bound, 
circumscribe, confine, limit, restrict. Brave, dare, defy. Bravery, 
courage, valor. (Cowardice.) Break, bruise, crush, pound, squeeze. 
Breeze, blast, gale, gust, hurricane, storm, tempest. Bright, clear, 
radiant, shining. (Dull.) Burial, interment, sepulture. (Resurrection,) 
Business, avocation, employment, engagement, occupation, art, pro¬ 
fession, trade. Bustle, stir, tumult, fuss. (Quiet.) 

Calamity, disaster, misfortune, mischance, mishap. (Good fortune.) 
Calm, collected, composed, placid, serene. (Stormy, unsettled.) Capa¬ 
ble, able, competent. (Incompetent.) Captious, fretful, cross, peev¬ 
ish, petulant. (Good-natured.) Care, anxiety, concern, solicitude, 
heed, attention. (Heedlessness, negligence.) Caress, kiss, embrace. 
(Spurn, buffet.) Carnage, butchery, massacre, slaughter. Cause, mo¬ 
tive, reason. (Effect, consequence.) CEASE, discontinue, leave off, end. 
(Continue.) Censure, animadvert, criticise. (Praise.) Certain, se¬ 
cure, sure. (Doubtful.) Cessation, intermission, rest, stop. (Contin- 


76 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


uance.) Chance, fate, fortune. (Design.) Change, barter, exchange, 
substitute. Changeable, fickle, inconstant, mutable, variable. (Un¬ 
changeable.) Character, reputation, repute, standing. Charm, cap¬ 
tivate, enchant, enrapture, fascinate. Chastity, purity, continence, 
virtue. (Lewdness.) Cheap, inexpensive, inferior, common. (Dear.) 
Cheerful, gay, merry, sprightly. (Mournful.) Chief, chieftain, head, 
leader. (Subordinate.) Circumstance, fact, incident. Class, degree, 
order, rank. Clear, bright, lucid, vivid. (Opaque.) Clever, adroit, 
dexterous, expert, skillful. (Stupid.) Clothed, clad, dressed. (Naked.) 
Coarse, rude, rough, unpolished. (Fine.) Coax, cajole, fawn, wheedle. 
Cold, cool, frigid, wintry, unfeeling, stoical. (Warm.) Color, dye, 
stain, tinge. Colorable, ostensible, plausible, specious. Combina¬ 
tion, cabal, conspiracy, plot. Command, injunction, order, precept. 
Commodity, goods, merchandise, ware. Common, mean, ordinary, 
vulgar. (Uncommon, extraordinary.) Compassion, sympathy, pity, 
clemency. (Cruelty, severity.) Compel, force, oblige, neccesitate. 
(Coax, lead.) Compensation, amends, recompense, remuneration, re¬ 
quital, reward. Compendium, compend, abridgment. (Enlargement.) 
Complain, lament, murmur, regret, repine. (Rejoice.) Comply, ac¬ 
cede, conform, submit, yield. (Refuse.) Compound, complex. (Simple.) 
Comprehend, comprise, include, embrace, grasp, understand, perceive. 
(Exclude, mistake.) Comprise, comprehend, contain, embrace, include. 
Conceal, hide, secrete. (Uncover.) Conceive, comprehend, under¬ 
stand. Conclusion, inference, deduction. Condemn, censure, 
blame, disapprove. (Justify, exonerate.) Conduct, direct, guide, lead, 
govern, regulate, manage. Confirm, corroborate, approve, attest. (Con¬ 
tradict.) Conflict, combat, contest, contention, struggle. (Peace, 
quiet.) Confute, disprove, refute, oppugn. (Approve.) Conquer, 
overcome, subdue, surmount, vanquish. (Defeat.) Consequence, effect, 
event, issue, result. (Cause.) Consider, reflect, ponder, weigh. Con¬ 
sistent, constant, compatible. (Inconsistent.) Console, comfort, 
solace. (Harrow, worry.) Constancy, firmness, stability, steadiness. 
(Fickleness.) Contaminate, corrupt, defile, pollute, taint. Contemn, 
despise, disdain, scorn. (Esteem.) Contemplate, meditate, muse. 
Contemptible, despicable, paltry, pitiful, vile, mean. (Noble.) Con¬ 
tend, contest, dispute, strive, struggle, combat. Continual, constant, 
continuous, perpetual, incessant. (Intermittent.) Continuance, con¬ 
tinuation, duration. (Cessation.) Continue, persist, persevere, pur¬ 
sue, prosecute. (Cease.) Contradict, deny, gainsay, oppose. (Con¬ 
firm.) Cool, cold, frigid. (Hot.) Correct, rectify, reform. Cost, 
charge, expense, price. Covetousness, avarice, cupidity. (Beneficence.) 
Cowardice, fear, timidity, pusillanimity. (Courage.) Crime, sin, vice, 
misdemeanor. (Virtue.) Criminal, convict, culprit, felon, malefactor. 
Crooked, bent, curved, oblique. (Straight.) Cruel, barbarous, brutal, 
inhuman, savage. (Kind.) Cultivation, culture, refinement. Cursory, 
desultory, hasty, slight. (Thorough.) Custom, fashion, manner, prac¬ 
tice. 

Danger, hazard, peril. (Safety.) Dark, dismal, opaque, obscure, 
dim. (Light.) Deadly, fatal, destructive, mortal. Dear, beloved, 
precious, costly, expensive. (Despised, cheap.) Death, departure, de¬ 
cease, demise. (Life.) Decay, decline, cousumption. (Growth.) 
Deceive, delude, impose upon, over-reach, gull, dupe, cheat. Deceit, 
cheat, imposition, trick, delusion, guile, beguilement, treachery, sham. 
(Truthfulness.) Decide, determine, settle, adjudicate, terminate, re- 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


77 


solve. Decipher, read, spell, interpret, solve. Decision, determina¬ 
tion, conclusion, resolution, firmness. (Vacillation.) Declamation, 
oratory, elocution, harangue, effusion, debate. Declaration, avowal, 
manifestation, statement, profession. Decrease, diminish, lessen, wane, 
decline, retrench, curtail, reduce. (Growth.) Dedicate, devote, conse¬ 
crate, offer, set, apportion. Deed, act, action, commission, achievement, 
instrument, document, muniment. Deem, judge, estimate, consider, 
think, suppose, conceive. Deep, profound, subterranean, submerged, 
designing, abstruse, learned. (Shallow.) Deface, mar, spoil, injure, 
disfigure. (Beautify.) Default, lapse, forfeit, omission, absence, want, 
failure. DEFECT, imperfection, flaw, fault, blemish. (Beauty, improve¬ 
ment.) Defend, guard, protect, justify. DEFENSE, excuse, plea, vin¬ 
dication, bulwark, rampart. DEFER, delay, postpone, put off, prorogue, 
adjourn. (Force, expedite.) Deficient, short, wanting, inadequate, 
scanty, incomplete. (Complete, perfect.) Defile, z\, pollute, corrupt, 
sully. (Beautify.) Define, fix, settle, determine, limit. Defray, 
meet, liquidate, pay, discharge. DEGREE, grade, extent, measure. DE¬ 
LIBERATE, v., consider, meditate, consult, ponder, debate. Deliberate, 
a., purposed, intentional, designed, determined. (Hasty.) Delicacy, 
nicety, dainty, refinement, tact, softness, modesty. (Boorishness, indeli¬ 
cacy.) Delicate, tender, fragile, dainty, refined. (Coarse.) Delicious, 
sweet, palatable. (Nauseous.) Delight, enjoyment, pleasure, happi¬ 
ness, transport, ecstasy, gladness, rapture, bliss. (Annoyance.) DE¬ 
LIVER, liberate, free, rescue, pronounce, give, hand over. (Retain.) 
Demonstrate, prove, show, exhibit, illustrate. Depart, leave, quit, 
decamp, retire, withdraw, vanish. (Remain.) Deprive, strip, bereave, 
despoil, rob, divest. Depute, appoint, commission, charge, intrust, 
delegate, authorize, accredit. Derision, scorn, contempt, contumely, 
disrespect. Derivation, origin, source, beginning, cause, etymology, 
root. Describe, delineate, portray, explain, illustrate, define, picture. 
Desecrate, profane, secularize, misuse, abuse, pollute. (Keep holy.) 
DESERVE, merit, earn, justify, win. Design, «.,delineation,sketch, draw¬ 
ing, cunning, artfulness, contrivance. Desirable, expedient, advisable, 
valuable, acceptable, proper, judicious, beneficial, profitable, good. 
Desire, n. t longing, affection, craving. Desist, cease, stop, discontinue, 
drop, abstain, forbear. (Continue, persevere.) Desolate, bereaved, for¬ 
lorn, forsaken, deserted, wdld, waste, bare, bleak, lonely. (Pleasant, 
happy.) Desperate, wild, daring, audacious, determined, reckless, 
hopeless. Destiny, fate, decree, doom, end. Destructive, detri¬ 
mental, hurtful, noxious, injurious, deleterious, baleful, baneful, sub¬ 
versive. (Creative, constructive.) Desuetude, disuse, discontinuance. 
(Maintenance.) Desultory, rambling, discursive, loose, unmethodical, 
superficial, unsettled, erratic, fitful. (Thorough.) Detail, «., partic¬ 
ular, specification, minutiae. Detail, v. y particularize, enumerate, 
specify. (Generalize.) DETER, warn, stop, dissuade, terrify, scare. 
(Encourage.) Detriment, loss, harm, injury, deterioration. (Benefit.) 
DEVELOP, unfold, amplify, expand, enlarge. Device, artifice, expedient, 
contrivance. Devoid, void, wanting, destitute, unendowed, unpro¬ 
vided. (Full, complete.) Devoted, attached, fond, absorbed, dedi¬ 
cated. Dictate, prompt, suggest, enjoin, order, command. Dictator¬ 
ial, imperative, imperious, domineering, arbitrary, tyrannical, over¬ 
bearing. (Submissive.) Die, expire, depart, perish, decline, languish, 
pass away, fade, decay. Diet, food, victuals, nourishment, nutriment, 
sustenance, fare. Difference, separation, disagreement, discord, dis- 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


sent, estrangement, variety. Different, various, manifold, diverse, 
unlike, separate, distinct. (Similar, homogeneous.) DiFFiCUET, hard, 
intricate, involved, perplexing, obscure, unmanageable. (Easy.) Dif¬ 
fuse, discursive, prolix, diluted, copious. Dignify, aggrandize, elevate, 
invest, exalt, advance, promote, honor. (Degrade.) DieaTE, stretch, 
widen, expand, swell, distend, enlarge, descant, expatiate. Dieatory, 
tardy, procrastinating, behindhand, lagging, dawdling. (Prompt.) 
Dieigence, care, assiduity, attention, heed, industry. (Negligence.) 
Diminish, lessen, reduce, contract, curtail, retrench. (Increase.) Disa- 
bieity, unfitness, incapacity. Discern, descry, observe, recognize, see, 
discriminate, separate, perceive. Discipeine, order, strictness, training, 
coercion, punishment, organization. (Confusion, demoralization.) Dis¬ 
cover, make known, find, invent, contrive, expose, reveal. Discred¬ 
itable, shameful, disgraceful, scandalous, disreputable. (Creditable.) 
Discreet, cautious, prudent, wary, judicious. (Indiscreet.) Discrep¬ 
ancy, disagreement, difference, variance. (Agreement.) Discrimina¬ 
tion, acuteness, discernment, judgment, caution. Disease, complaint, 
malady, disorder, ailment, sickness. Disgrace, n. y disrepute, reproach, 
dishonor, shame, odium. (Honor.) Disgrace, v. , debase, degrade, de¬ 
fame, discredit. (Exalt.) Disgust, dislike, distaste, loathing, abomi¬ 
nation, abhorrence. (Admiration.) Dishonest, unjust, fraudulent, 
unfair, deCeitful, cheating, deceptive, wrongful. (Honest.) Dismay, v., 
terrify, frighten, scare, daunt, appall, dishearten. (Encourage.) Dismay, 
n. y terror, dread, fear, fright. (Assurance.) Dismiss, send off, discharge, 
discard, banish. (Retain.) DiSPEE, scatter, drive away, disperse, dissi¬ 
pate. (Collect.) Display, show, spread out, exhibit, expose. (Hide.) 
Dispose, arrange, place, order, give, bestow. Dispute, v. , argue, con¬ 
test, contend, question, impugn. (Assent.) Dispute, n. f argument,de¬ 
bate, controversy, quarrel, disagreement. (Harmony.) Dissent, disa¬ 
gree, differ, vary. (Assent.) Distinct, clear, plain, obvious, different, 
separate. (Obscure, indistinct.) Distinguish, perceive, discern, mark 
out, divide, discriminate. Distinguished, famous, glorious, far-famed, 
noted, illustrious, eminent, celebrated. (Obscure, unknown, ordinary.) 
Distract, perplex, bewilder. (Calm, concentrate.) Distribute, allot, 
share, dispense, apportion, deal. (Collect.) Disturb, derange,discompose, 
agitate, rouse, interrupt, confuse, annoy, trouble, vex, worry. (Pacify, 
quiet.) Disuse, discontinuance, abolition, desuetude. (Use.) Divide, 
part, separate, distribute, deal out, sever, sunder. Divine, godlike, holy, 
heavenly, sacred, a parson, clergyman, minister. Do, effect, make, per¬ 
form, accomplish, finish, transact. Docile, tractable, teachable, com¬ 
pliant, tame. (Stubborn.) Doctrine, tenet, articles of belief, creed, 
dogma, teaching. Doleful, dolorous, woe-begone, rueful, dismal, 
piteous. (Joyous.) Doom, n., sentence, verdict, judgment, fate, lot, 
destiny. Doubt, n., uncertainty, suspense, hesitation, scruple, ambi' 
guity. (Certainty.) Draw, pull, haul, drag, attract, inhale, sketch, de¬ 
scribe. Dread, «., fear, horror, terror, alarm, dismay, awe. (Boldness, 
assurance.) Dreadful, fearful, frightful, shocking, awful, horrible’ 
horrid, terrific. Dress, n. y clothing, attire, apparel, garments, costume, 
garb, livery. Drift, purpose, meaning, scope, aim, tendency, direction. 
Droll, funny, laughable, comic, whimsical, queer, amusing. (Solemn.) 
Drown, inundate, swamp, submerge, overwhelm, engulf. Dry, a. } 
arid, parched, lifeless, dull, tedious, uninteresting, meagre. (Moist’ in¬ 
teresting, succulent.) Due, owing to, attributable to, just, fair, proper, 
debt, right. Dull, stupid, gloomy, sad, dismal, commonplace.(Bright.) 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


79 


Dunce, simpleton, fool, ninny, idiot. (Sage.) Durable, lasting, per¬ 
manent, abiding, continuing. (Ephemeral, perishable.) Dwell, stay, 
stop, abide, sojourn, linger, tarry. Dwindle, pine, waste, diminish, de¬ 
crease, fall off. (Grow.) 

Eager, hot, ardent, impassioned, forward, impatient. (Diffident.) 
Earn, acquire, obtain, win, gain, achieve. Earnest, a., ardent, serious, 
grave, solemn, warm. (Trifling.) Earnest, w., pledge, pawn. Ease, «., 
comfort, rest. (Worry.) Ease, v. } calm, alleviate, allay, mitigate, ap¬ 
pease, assuage, pacify, disburden, rid. (Annoy, worry.) Easy, light, 
comfortable, unconstrained. (Difficult, hard.) Eccentric, irregular, 
anomalous, singular, odd, abnormal, wayward, particular, strange. 
(Regular, ordinary.) Economical, sparing, .saving, provident, thrifty, 
frugal, careful, niggardly. (Wasteful.) Edge, border, brink, rim, brim, 
margin, verge. Efface, blot out, expunge, obliterate, wipe out, cancel, 
erase. Effect, n., consequence, result, issue, event, execution, opera¬ 
tion. Effect, v., accomplish, fulfill, realize, achieve, execute, operate, 
complete. Effective, efficient, operative, serviceable. (Vain, inef¬ 
fectual.) Efficacy, efficiency, energy, agency, instrumentality. Effi¬ 
cient, effectual, effective, competent, capable, able, fitted. Eliminate, 
drive out, expel, thrust out, eject, cast out, oust, dislodge, banish, pro¬ 
scribe. Eloquence, oratory, rhetoric, declamation. Elucidate, make 
plain, explain, clear up, illustrate. Elude, evade, escape, avoid, shun. 
Embarrass, perplex, entangle, distress, trouble. (Assist.) Embellish, 
adorn, decorate, bedeck, beautify, deck. (Disfigure.) Embolden, in¬ 
spirit, animate, encourage, cheer, urge, impel, stimulate. (Discourage.) 
Eminent, distinguished, signal, conspicuous, noted, prominent, elevated, 
renowned, famous, glorious, illustrious. (Obscure, unknown.) Emit, 
give out, throw out, exhale, discharge, vent. Emotion, perturbation, 
agitation, trepidation, tremor, mental conflict. Employ, occupy, busy, 
take up with, engross. Employment, business, avocation, engagement, 
office, function, trade, profession, occupation, calling, vocation. En¬ 
compass, v., encircle, surround, gird, beset. Encounter, attack, con¬ 
flict, combat, assault, onset, engagement, battle, action. Encourage, 
countenance, sanction, support, foster, cherish, inspirit, embolden, ani¬ 
mate, cheer, incite, urge, impel, stimulate. (Deter.) End, n. y aim, ob¬ 
ject, purpose, result, conclusion, upshot, close, expiration, termination, 
extremity, sequel. Endeavor, attempt, try, essay, strive, aim. En¬ 
durance, continuation, duration, fortitude, patience, resignation. En¬ 
dure, v ., last, continue, support, bear, sustain, suffer, brook, submit to, 
undergo. (Perish.) Enemy, foe, antagonist, adversary, opponent. 
(Friend.) Energetic, industrious, effectual, efficacious, powerful, bind¬ 
ing, stringent, forcible, nervous. (Lazy.) Engage, employ, busy, oc¬ 
cupy, attract, invite, allure, entertain, engross, take up, enlist. Engross, 
absorb, take up, busy, occupy, engage, monopolize. Engulf, swallow 
up, absorb, imbibe, drown, submerge, bury, entomb, overwhelm. En¬ 
join, order, ordain, appoint, prescribe. Enjoyment, pleasure, gratifica¬ 
tion. (Grief, sorrow, sadness.) Enlarge, increase, extend, augment, 
broaden, swell. (Diminish.) Enlighten, illumine, illuminate, in¬ 
struct, inform. (Befog, becloud.) Enliven, cheer, vivify, stir up, 
animate, inspire, exhilarate. (Sadden, quiet.) Enmity, animosity, 
hostility, ill-will, maliciousness. (Friendship.) Enormous, gigantic, 
colossal, huge, vast, immense, prodigious. (Insignificant.) Enough, 
sufficient, plenty, abundance. (Want.) Enraged, infuriated, raging, 
wrathful. (Pacified.) Enrapture, enchant, fascinate, charm, capti- 


80 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


vate, bewitch. (Repel.) Enroll, enlist, list, register, record. Enter¬ 
prise, undertaking, endeavor, venture, energy. Enthusiasm, earnest 
devotion, zeal, ardor. (Ennui, lukewarmness.) Enthusiast, fanatic, 
visionary. Equal, equable, even, like, alike, uniform. (Unequal.) 
Eradicate, root out, extirpate, exterminate. Erroneous, incorrect, 
inaccurate, inexact. (Exact.) Error, blunder, mistake. (Truth.) 
Especially, chiefly, particularly, principally. (Generally.) Essay, 
dissertation, tract, treatise. Establish, build up, confirm. (Overthrow.) 
Esteem, regard, respect. (Contempt.) Estimate, appraise, appre¬ 
ciate, esteem, compute, rate. Estrangement, abstraction, alienation. 
Eternal, endless, everlasting. (Finite.) Evade, equivocate, prevari¬ 
cate. Even, level, plain, smooth. (Uneven.) Event, accident, advent¬ 
ure, incident, occurrence. Evil, ill, harm, mischief, misfortune. (Good.) 
Exact, nice, particular, punctual. (Inexact.) Exalt, ennoble, dignify, 
raise. (Humble.) Examination, investigation, inquiry, research, 
search, scrutiny. Exceed, excel, outdo, surpass, transcend. (Fall 
short.) Exceptional, uncommon, rare, extraordinary. (Common.) 
Excite, awaken, provoke, rouse, stir up. (Lull.) Excursion, jaunt, 
ramble, tour, trip. Execute, fulfill, perform. Exempt, free, cleared. 
(Subject.) Exercise, practice. Exhaustive, thorough, complete. 
(Cursory.) Exigency, emergency. Experiment, proof, trial, test. 
Explain, expound, interpret, illustrate, elucidate. Express, declare, 
signify, utter, tell. Extend, reach, stretch. (Abridge.) Extravagant, 
lavish, profuse, prodigal. (Parsimonious.) 

Fable, apologue, novel, romance, tale. Face, visage, countenance. 
Facetious, pleasant, jocular, jocose'. (Serious.) Factor, agent. Fail, 
to fall short, be deficient. (Accomplish.) Faint, languid. (Forcible.) 
Fair, clear. (Stormy.) Fair, equitable, honest, reasonable. (Unfair.) 
Faith, creed. (Unbelief, infidelity.) Faithful, true, loyal, constant. 
(Faithless.) Faithless, perfidious, treacherous. (Faithful.) Fall, 
drop, droop, sink, tumble. (Rise.) Fame, renown, reputation. Famous, 
celebrated, renowned, illustrious. (Obscure.) Fanciful, capricious, 
fantastical, whimsical. Fancy, imagination. Fast, rapid, quick, fleet, 
expeditious. (Slow.) Fatigue, w r eariness, lassitude. (Vigor.) Fear, 
timidity, timorousness. (Bravery.) Feeling, sensation, sense. Feel¬ 
ing, sensibility, susceptibility. (Insensibility.). F'EROCIOUS, fierce, sav¬ 
age, wild, barbarous. (Mild.) Fertile, fruitful, prolific, plenteous, 
productive. (Sterile.) Fiction, falsehood, fabrication. (Fact.) Fig¬ 
ure, allegory, emblem, metaphor, symbol, type. Find, find out, descry, 
discover, espy. (Lose, overlook.) Fine, a ., delicate, nice. (Coarse.) 
Fine, forfeit, forfeiture, mulct, penalty. Fire, glow, heat, warmth. 
Firm, constant, solid, steadfast, fixed, stable. (Weak.) First, fore¬ 
most, earliest. (Last.) Fit, accommodate, adapt, adjust, suit. Fix, de¬ 
termine, establish, settle, limit. Flame, blaze, flare, flash, glare. Flat, 
level, even. Flexible, pliant, pliable, ductile, supple, (Inflexible.) 
Flourish, prosper, thrive. (Decay.) Fluctuating, wavering, hesitat¬ 
ing, oscillating, vacillating, change. (Firm, steadfast, decided.) Fluent, 
flowing, glib, voluble, unembarrassed, ready. (Hesitating.) Folks, 
persons, people, individuals. Follow, succeed, ensue, imitate, copy, 
pursue. Follower, partisan, disciple, adherent, retainer, pursuer, 
successor. Folly, silliness, foolishness, imbecility, weakness. (Wis¬ 
dom.) Fond, enamored, attached, affectionate. (Distant.) Fondness, 
affection, attachment, kindness, love. (Aversion.) F'oolhardy, ven¬ 
turesome, incautious, hasty, adventurous, rash. (Cautious.) Foolish, 


LANGUAGE; ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


81 


simple, silly, irrational, brainless, imbecile, crazy, absurd, preposterous, 
ridiculous, nonsensical. (Wise, discreet.) Fop, dandy, dude, beau, cox¬ 
comb, puppy, jackanapes. (Gentleman.) Forbear, abstain, refrain, 
withhold. Force, n., strength, vigor, dint, might, energy, power, vio¬ 
lence, army, host. Force, v., compel. (Persuade.) Forecast, fore¬ 
thought, foresight, premeditation, prognostication. Forego, quit, re¬ 
linquish, let go, waive. Foregoing, antecedent, anterior, preceding, 
previous, prior, former. Forerunner, herald, harbinger, precursor, 
omen. Foresight, forethought, forecast, premeditation. Forge, coin, 
invent, frame, feign, fabricate,, counterfeit. Forgive, pardon, remit, 
absolve, acquit, excuse, except. Foreorn, forsaken, abandoned, de¬ 
serted, desolate, lone, lonesome. Form, ceremony, solemnity, 

observance, rite, figure, shape, conformation, fashion, appearance, repre¬ 
sentation, semblance. Form, v ., make, create, produce, constitute, ar¬ 
range, fashion, mould, shape. Format, ceremonious, precise, exact, 
stiff, methodical, affected. (Informal, natural.) Former, antecedent, 
anterior, previous, prior, preceding, foregoing. Forsaken, abandoned, 
forlorn, deserted, desolate, lone, lonesome. Forthwith, immediately, 
directly, instantly, instantaneously. (Anon.) Fortitude, endurance, 
resolution, fearlessness, dauntlessness. (Weakness.) Fortunate, lucky, 
happy, auspicious, prosperous, successful. (Unfortunate.) Fortune, 
chance, fate, luck, doom, destiny, property, possession, riches. Foster, 
cherish, nurse, tend, harbor, nurture. (Neglect.) Foue, impure, nasty, 
filthy, dirty, unclean, defiled. (Pure, clean.) Fractious, cross, cap¬ 
tious, petulant, touchy, testy, peevish, fretful, splenetic. (Tractable.) 
FragieE, brittle, frail, delicate, feeble. (Strong.) Fragments, pieces, 
scraps, chips, leavings, remains, remnants. Fraiety, weakness, failing, 
foible, imperfection, fault, blemish. (Strength.) Frame, v., construct, 
invent, coin, fabricate, forge, mold, feign, make, compose. Franchise, 
right, exemption, immunity, privilege, freedom, suffrage. Frank, artless, 
candid, sincere, free, easy, familiar, open, ingenuous, plain. (Tricky, 
insincere.) Frantic, distracted, mad, furious, raving, frenzied. (Quiet, 
subdued.) Fraud, deceit, deception, duplicity, guile, cheat, imposition. 
(Honesty.) Freak, fancy, humor, vagary, whim, caprice, crotchet. 
(Purpose, resolution.) Free, a., liberal, generous, bountiful, bounteous, 
munificent, frank, artless, candid, familiar, open, independent, uncon¬ 
fined, unreserved, unrestricted, exempt, clear, loose, easy, careless. 
(Slavish, stingy, artful, costly.) Free, v ., release, set free, deliver, res¬ 
cue, liberate, enfranchise, affranchise, emancipate, exempt. (Enslave, 
bind.) Freedom, liberty, independence, unrestraint, familiarity, licence, 
franchise, exemption, privilege. (Slavery.) Frequent, often, common, . 
usual, general. (Rare.) Fret, gall, chale, agitate, irritate, vex. 
Friendey, amicable, social, sociable. (Distant, reserved, cool.) Fright- 
fue, fearful, dreadful, dire, direful, terrific, awful, horrible, horrid. 
Frivoeous, trifling, trivial, petty. (Serious, earnest.) Frugae, provi¬ 
dent, economical, saving. (Wasteful, extravagant.) FruiTFUe, fertile, 
prolific, productive, abundant, plentiful, plenteous. (Barren, sterile.) 
F'ruiteESS, vain, useless, idle, abortive, bootless, unavailing, without 
avail. Frustrate, defeat, foil, balk, disappoint. Fuefiee, accomplish, 
effect, complete. Fueey, completely, abundantly, perfectly. Fuesome* 
coarse, gross, sickening, offensive, rank. (Moderate.) Furious, violent, 
boisterous, vehement, dashing, sweeping, rolling, impetuous, frantic, 
distracted, stormy, angry, raging, fierce. (Calm.) FuTIEE, trifling, 
trivial, frivolous, useless. (Effective.) 

U. I.-6 


82 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Gain, ;z., profit, emolument, advantage, benefit, winnings, earnings. 
(Loss.) Gain, v., get, acquire, obtain, attain, procure, earn, win, achieve, 
reap, realize, reach. (Lose.) Gallant, brave, bold, courageous, gay, 
fine, showy, intrepid, fearless, heroic. Galling, chafing, irritating, vex¬ 
ing. (Soothing.) Game, play, pastime, diversion, sport, amusement. 
Gang, band, horde, company, troop, crew. Gap, breach, chasm, hollow, 
cavity, cleft, crevice, rift, chink. Garnish, embellish, adorn, beautify, 
deck, decorate. Gather, pick, cull, assemble, muster, infer, collect. 
(Scatter.) Gaudy, showy, flashy, tawdry, gay, glittering, bespangled. 
(Sombre.) Gaunt, emaciated, scraggy, skinny, meagre, lank, attenuated, 
spare, lean, thin. (Well-fed.) Gay, cheerful, merry, lively, jolly, 
sprightly,blithe. (Solemn.) Generate, form, make, beget, produce. Gen¬ 
eration, formation, race, breed, stock, kind, age, era. Generous, benefi¬ 
cent, noble, honorable, bountiful, liberal, free. (Niggardly.) Genial, 
cordial, hearty, festive, joyous. (Distant, cold.) Genius, intellect, inven¬ 
tion, talent, taste, nature, character, adept. Genteel, refined, polished, 
fashionable, polite, well-bred. (Boorish.) Gentle, placid, mild, bland, 
meek, tame, docile. (Rough, uncouth.) Genuine, real, true, unaffected, 
sincere. (False.) Gesture, attitude, action, posture. Get, obtain, earn, 
gain, attain, procure, achieve. Ghastly, pallid, wan, hideous, grim, 
shocking. Ghost, spectre, sprite, apparition, shade, phantom. Gibe, 
scoff, sneer, flout, jeer, mock, taunt, deride. Giddy, unsteady, flighty, 
thoughtless. (Steady.) Gift, donation, benefaction, grant, alms, gra¬ 
tuity, boon, present, faculty, talent. (Purchase.) Gigantic, colossal, 
huge, enormous, vast, prodigious, immense. (Diminutive.) Give, grant, 
bestow, confer, yield, impart. Glad, pleased, cheerful, joyful, gladsome, 
gratified, cheering. (Sad.) Gleam, glimmer, glance, glitter, shine, flash. 
GLEE, gayety, merriment, mirth, joviality, jovialness, catch. (Sorrow.) 
Glide, slip, slide, run,' roll on. Glimmer, v., gleam, flicker, glitter. 
Glimpse, glance, look, glint. Glitter, gleam, shine, glisten, glister, 
radiate. Gloom, cloud, darkness, dimness, blackness, dulness, sadness. 
(Light, brightness, joy.) Gloomy, lowering, lurid, dim, dusky, sad, 
glum. (Bright, clear.) Glorify, magnify, celebrate, adore, exalt. Glo¬ 
rious, famous, renowned, distinguished, noble, exalted. (Infamous.) 
Glory, honor, fame, renown, splendor, grandeur. (Infamy.) Glut, 
gorge, stuff, cram, cloy, satiate, block up. Go, depart, proceed, move, 
budge, stir. God, Creator, Lord, Almighty, Jehovah, Omnipotence, Provi¬ 
dence. Godly, righteous, devout, holy, pious, religious. Good, benefit, 
weal, advantage, profit, boon. (Evil.) Good, a., virtuous, righteous, up¬ 
right, just, true. (Wicked, bad.) Gorge, glut, fill, cram, stuff, satiate. 
Gorgeous, superb, grand, magnificent, splendid. (Plain, simple.) Gov¬ 
ern, rule, direct, manage, command. Government, rule, state, control, 
sway. Graceful, becoming, comely, elegant, beautiful. (Awkward.) 
Gracious, merciful, kindly, beneficent. Gradual, slow, progressive, 
(Sudden.) Grand, majestic, stately, dignified, lofty, elevated, exalted, 
splendid, gorgeous, superb, magnificent, sublime, pompous. (Shabby.) 
Grant, bestow, impart, give, yield, cede, " allow, confer, invest. 
Grant, gift, boon, donation. Graphic, forcible, telling, picturesque, 
vivid, pictorial. Grasp, catch, seize, gripe, clasp, grapple. Grateful, 
agreeable, pleasing, welcome, thankful. (Harsh.) Gratification, 
enjoyment, pleasure, delight, reward. (Disappointment.) Grave, a ., 
serious, sedate, solemn, sober, pressing, heavy. (Giddy.) Grave, n., 
tomb, sepulchre, vault. Great, big, huge, large, majestic, vast, grand, 
noble, august. (Small.) Greediness, avidity, eagerness, voracity. (Gene- 


LANGUAGE; ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


83 


rositv.) Grief, affliction, sorrow, trial, woe, tribulation. (Joy.) Grieve, 
mourn, lament, sorrow, pain, hurt, wound, bewail. (Rejoice.) Grievous, 
painful, afflicting, heavy, baleful, unhappy. Grind, crush, oppress, 
grate, harass, afflict. Grisey, terrible, hideous, grim, ghastly, dread¬ 
ful. (Pleasing.) Gross, coarse, outrageous, unseemly, shameful, indel¬ 
icate. (Delicate.) Group, assembly, cluster, collection, clump, order, 
class. Grovee, crawl, cringe, fawn, sneak. Grow, increase, vegetate, 
expand, advance. (Decay, diminution.) Growe, grumble, snarl, mur¬ 
mur, complain. Grudge, malice, rancor, spite, pique, hatred, aversion. 
Gruff, rough, rugged, blunt, rude, harsh, surly, bearish. (Pleasant.) 
GuiEE, deceit, fraud. (Candor.) Guieteess, harmless, innocent. Guiety, 
culpable, sinful, criminal. 

Habit, custom, practice. Haie, accost, address, greet, salute, wel¬ 
come. Happiness, beatitude, blessedness, bliss, felicity. (Unhappiness.) 
Harbor, haven, port. Hard, firm, solid. (Soft.) Hard, arduous, 
difficult. (Easy.) Harm, injury, hurt, wrong, infliction. (Benefit.) 
HarmeESS, safe, innocuous, innocent. (Hurtful.) Harsh, rough, 
rigorous, severe, gruff, morose. (Gentle.) Hasten, accelerate, de¬ 
spatch, expedite, speed. (Delay.) Hasty, hurried, ill-advised. (De¬ 
liberate.) Hatefue, odious, detestable. (Lovable.) Hatred, enmity, 
ill-will, rancor. (Friendship.) Haughtiness, arrogance, pride. (Mod¬ 
esty.) Haughty, arrogant, disdainful, supercilious, proud. Hazard, 
risk, venture. Heaethy, salubrious, salutary, wholesome. (Unhealthy.) 
Heap, accumulate, amass, pile. Hearty, a ., cordial, sincere, warm. 
(Insincere.) Heavy, burdensome, ponderous, weighty. (Light.) Heed, 
care, attention. Heighten, enhance, exalt, elevate, raise. Heinous, 
atrocious, flagitious, flagrant. (Venial.) Heep, aid, assist, relieve, suc¬ 
cor. (Hinder.) HERETIC, sectary, sectarian, schismatic, dissenter, non¬ 
conformist. HESITATE, falter, stammer, stutter. Hideous, grim, 
ghastly, grisly. (Beautiful.) High, lofty, tall, elevated. (Deep.) 
Hinder, impede, obstruct, prevent. (Help.) Hint, allude, refer, sug¬ 
gest, intimate, insinuate. Hoed, detain, keep, retain. Hoeiness, sanc¬ 
tity, piety, sacredness. Hoey, devout, pious, religious. Homeey, plain, 
ugly, coarse. (Beautiful.) Honesty, integrity, probity, uprightness. 
(Dishonesty.) Honor, v., respect, reverence, .esteem. (Dishonor.) 
Hope, confidence, expectation, trust. HopEEESS, desperate. Hot, ar¬ 
dent, burning, fiery. (Cold.) However, nevertheless, notwithstand¬ 
ing, yet. Humbee, modest, submissive, plain, unostentatious, simple. 
(Haughty.) Humbee, degrade, humiliate, mortify, abase. (Exalt.) 
Humor, mood, temper. Hunt, seek, chase. HurtFue, noxious, per¬ 
nicious. (Beneficial.) Husbandry, cultivation, tillage. Hypocrite, 
dissembler, impostor, canter. Hypothesis, theory, supposition. 

Idea, thought, imagination. Ideae, imaginary, fancied. (Actual.) 
Idee, indolent, lazy. (Industrious.) Ignominious, shameful, scandal¬ 
ous, infamous. (Honorable.) Ignominy, shame, disgrace, obloquy, in¬ 
famy, reproach. Ignorant, unlearned, illiterate, uninformed, unedu¬ 
cated. (Knowing.) lEE, «., evil, wickedness, misfortune, mischief, 
harm. (Good.) lEE, a., sick, indisposed, _ unwell, diseased. (Well.) 
lEE-TEMPERED, crabbed, sour, surly, acrimonious. (Good-natured.) 
Iee-wiee, enmity, hatred, antipathy. (Good-will.) lEEEGAE, un¬ 
lawful, illicit, contraband, illegitimate. (Legal.) IeeimitabeE, bound¬ 
less, immeasurable, unlimited, infinite. IEEITERATE, unlettered, 
unlearned, untaught, uninstructed. (Learned, educated.) . Ieeusion, 
fallacy, deception, phantasm. Ieeusory, imaginary, chimerical, vision- 


84 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


ary. (Real.) ILLUSTRATE, explain, elucidate, clear. ILLUSTRIOUS, 
celebrated, noble, eminent, famous, renowned. (Obscure.) Image, 
likeness, picture, representation, effigy. Imaginary, ideal, fanciful, ill¬ 
usory. (Real.) Imagine, conceive, fancy, apprehend, think, presume. 
Imbecility, silliness, senility, dotage. Imitate, copy, ape, mimic, 
mock, counterfeit. Immaculate, unspotted, spotless, unsullied, stain¬ 
less. (Soiled.) Immediate, pressing, instant, next, proximate. Im¬ 
mediately, instantly, forthwith, directly, presently. Immense, vast, 
enormous, huge, prodigious, monstrous. Immunity, privilege, prerog¬ 
ative, exemption. Impair, injure, diminish, decrease. Impart, reveal, 
divulge, disclose, discover, bestow, afford. Impartial, just, equitable, 
unbiased. (Partial.) Impassioned, glowing, burning, fiery, vehement, 
intense. Impeach, accuse, charge, arraign, censure. Impede, hinder, 
retard, obstruct, prevent. (Help.) Impediment, obstruction, hindrance, 
obstacle, barrier. (Aid.) Impel, animate, induce, incite, instigate, em¬ 
bolden. (Retard.) Impending, imminent, threatening. Imperative, 
commanding, authoritative, despotic. Imperfection, fault, blemish, 
defect, vice. Imperil, endanger, hazard, jeopardize. Imperious, com¬ 
manding, dictatorial, authoritative, imperative, lordly, overbearing, 
domineering. Impertinent, intrusive, meddling, officious, rude, saucy, 
impudent, insolent. Impetuous, violent, boisterous, furious, vehement. 
(Calm.) Impious, profane, irreligious, godless. (Reverent.) Implicate, 
involve, entangle, embarrass, compromise. Imply, involve, comprise, in¬ 
fold, import, denote, signify. Importance, signification, significance, 
avail, consequence, weight, gravity, moment. Imposing, impressive, 
striking, majestic, august, noble, grand. (Insignificant.) Impotence, 
weakness, incapacity, infirmity, frailty, feebleness. (Power.) Impotent, 
weak, feeble, helpless, enfeebled, nerveless, infirm. (Strong.) Impressive, 
stirring, forcible, exciting, affecting, moving. Imprison, incarcerate, 
shut up, immure, confine. (Liberate.) Imprisonment, captivity, 
durance. Improve, amend, better, mend, reform, rectify, ameliorate, 
apply, use, employ. (Deteriorate.) Improvident, careless, incautious, 
imprudent, prodigal, wasteful, reckless, rash. (Thrifty.) Impudence, 
assurance, impertinence, confidence, insolence, rudeness. Impudent, 
saucy, brazen, bold, impertinent, forward, rude, insolent, immodest, 
shameless. Impulse, incentive, incitement, motive, instigation. Im¬ 
pulsive, rash, hasty, forcible, violent. (Deliberate.) Imputation, 
blame, censure, reproach, charge, accusation. Inadvertence, error, 
oversight, blunder, inattention, carelessness, negligence. Incen¬ 
tive, motive, inducement, impulse. Incite, instigate, excite, provoke, 
stimulate, encourage, urge, impel. Inclination, leaning, slope, dis¬ 
position, tendency, bent, bias, affection, attachment, wish, liking, desire. 
(Aversion.) Incline, v., slope, lean, slant, tend, bend, turn, bias, dis¬ 
pose. Inclose, surround, shut in, fence in, cover, wrap. Include, 
comprehend, comprise, contain, embrace, take in. Incommode, annoy, 
plague, molest, disturb, inconvenience, trouble. (Accommodate.) In¬ 
competent, incapable, unable, inadequate, insufficient. (Competent.) 
Increase, extend, enlarge, augment, dilate, expand, amplify, raise, 
enhance, aggravate, magnify, grow. (Diminish.) Increase, n., aug¬ 
mentation, accession, addition, enlargement, extension. (Decrease.) 
Incumbent, obligatory. Indefinite, vague, uncertain, unsettled, 
loose, lax. (Definite.) Indicate, point out, show, mark. Indiffer¬ 
ence, apathy, carelessness, listlessness, insensibility. (Application, 
assiduity.) Indigence, want, neediness, penury, poverty, destitution, 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE . 


85 


privation. (Affluence.) Indignation, anger, wrath, ire. resentment. 
Indignity, insult, affront, outrage, obloquy, opprobrium, reproach, 
ignominy. (Honor.) Indiscriminate, promiscuous, chance, indistinct, 
confused. (Select, chosen.) Indispensable, essential, necessary, requi¬ 
site, expedient. (Unnecessary, supernumerary.) Indisputable, un¬ 
deniable, undoubted, incontestable, indubitable, unquestionable, sure, 
infallible. Indorse, ratify, confirm, superscribe. Indulge, foster, 
cherish, fondle. (Deny ) Ineffectual, vain, useless, unavailing, 
fruitless, abortive, inoperative. (Effective.) Inequality, disparity, 
disproportion, dissimilarity, unevenness. (Equality.) Inevitable, un¬ 
avoidable, not to be avoided, certain. Infamous, scandalous, shameful, 
ignominious, opprobrious, disgraceful. (Honorable.) Inference, de¬ 
duction, corollary, conclusion, consequence. Infernal, diabolical, 
fiendish, devilish, hellish. Infest, annoy, plague, harass, disturb. 
Infirm, weak, feeble, enfeebled. (Robust.) Inflame, anger, irritate, 
enrage, chafe, incense, nettle, aggravate, imbitter, exasperate. (Allay, 
soothe.) Influence, v., bias, sway, prejudice, prepossess. Influence, 
«., credit, favor, reputation, character, weight, authority, sway, ascend¬ 
ency. Infringe, invade, intrude, contravene, break, transgress, violate. 
Ingenuous, artless, candid, generous, open, frank, plain, sincere. 
(Crafty.) Inhuman,. cruel, brutal, savage, barbarous, ruthless, merciless, 
ferocious. (Humane.) Iniquity, injustice, wrong, grievance. Injure, 
damage, hurt, deteriorate, wrong, aggrieve, harm, spoil, mar, sully. 
(Benefit.) Injurious, hurtful, baneful, pernicious, deleterious, noxious, 
prejudicial, wrongful, damaging. (Beneficial.) Injustice, wrong, in¬ 
iquity, grievance. (Right.) Innocent, guiltless, sinless, harmless, 
inoffensive, innoxious. (Guilty.) Innocuous, harmless, safe, innocent. 
(Hurtful.) Inordinate, intemperate, irregular, disorderly, excessive, 
immoderate. (Moderate.) Inquiry, investigation, examination, re¬ 
search, scrutiny, disquisition, question, query, interrogation. Inquisi¬ 
tive, prying, peeping, curious, peering. Insane, mad, deranged, de¬ 
lirious, demented. (Sane.) Insanity, madness, mental aberration, 
lunacy, delirium. (Sanity.) Insinuate, hint, intimate, suggest, infuse, 
introduce, ingratiate. Insipid, dull, flat, mawkish, tasteless, vapid, in¬ 
animate, lifeless. (Bright, sparkling.) Insolent, rude, saucy, pert, 
impertinent, abusive, scurrilous, opprobrious, insulting, offensive. In¬ 
spire, animate, exhilarate, enliven, cheer, breathe, inhale. Instability, 
mutability, fickleness, mutableness, wavering. (Stability, firmness.) 
INSTIGATE, stir up, persuade, animate, incite, urge, stimulate, encourage. 
Instil, implant, inculcate, infuse, insinuate. Instruct, inform, teach, 
educate, enlighten, initiate. IntrumenTal, conducive, assistant,helping, 
ministerial. Insufficiency, inadequacy, incompetency, incapability, 
deficiency,lack. Insult, affront,outrage, indignity, blasphemy. (Honor.) 
Insulting, insolent, rude, saucy, impertinent, impudent, abusive. 
Integrity, uprightness, honesty, probity, entirety, entireness, com¬ 
pleteness, rectitude, purity. (Dishonesty.) INTELLECT, understanding, 
sense, brains, mind, intelligence, ability, talent, genius. (Body.) IN¬ 
TELLECTUAL, mental, ideal, metaphysical. (Brutal.) Intelligible, 
clear, obvious, plain, distinct. (Abstruse.) Intemperate, immoderate, 
excessive, drunken, nimious, inordinate. (Temperate.) Intense, ar¬ 
dent, earnest, glowing, fervid, burning, vehement. Intent, design, 
purpose, intention, drift, view, aim, purport, meaning. Intercourse, 
commerce, connection, intimacy, acquaintance. Interdict, forbid, 
prohibit, inhibit, proscribe, debar, restrain from. (Allow.) INTERFERE, 


86 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMA TION. 


meddle, intermeddle, interpose. Interminable, endless, interminate, 
infinite, unlimited, illimitable, boundless, limitless. (Brief, concise.) 
INTERPOSE, intercede, arbitrate, meditate, interfere, meddle. Inter¬ 
pret, explain, expound, elucidate, unfold, decipher. Intimate, hint, 
suggest, insinuate, express, signify, impart, tell. Intimidate, dis¬ 
hearten, alarm, frighten, scare, appal, daunt, cow, browbeat. (Encour¬ 
age.) Intolerable, insufferable, unbearable, insupportable, unendur¬ 
able. Intrepid, bold, brave, daring, fearless, dauntless, undaunted, 
courageous, valorous, valiant, heroic, gallant, chivalrous, doughty. 
(Cowardly, faint-hearted.) Intrigue, plot, cabal, conspiracy, combina¬ 
tion, artifice, ruse, amour. Intrinsic, real, true, genuine, sterling, 
native, natural. (Extrinsic.) Invalidate, quash, cancel, overthrow, 
vacate, nulify, annul. Invasion, incursion, irruption, inroad, aggres¬ 
sion, raid, fray. Invective, abuse, reproach, railing, censure, sarcasm, 
satire. Invent, devise, contrive, frame, find out, discover, design. In¬ 
vestigation, examination, search, inquiry, research, scrutiny. IN¬ 
VETERATE, confirmed, chronic, malignant. (Inchoate.) Invidious, en¬ 
vious, hateful, odious, malignant. Invigorate, brace, harden, nerve, 
strengthen, fortify. (Enervate). Invincible, unconquerable, impreg¬ 
nable, insurmountable. Invisible, unseen, imperceptible, impalpable, 
unperceivable. Invite, ask, call, bid, request, allure, attract, solicit. 
Invoke, invocate, call upon, appeal, refer, implore, beseech. Involve, 
implicate, entangle, compromise, envelope. Irksome, wearisome, tire¬ 
some, tedious, annoying. (Pleasant.) Irony, sarcasm, satire, ridicule, 
raillery. Irrational, foolish, silly, imbecile, brutish, absurd, ridicu¬ 
lous. (Rational.) Irregular, eccentric, anomalous, inordinate, in¬ 
temperate. (Regular.) Irreligious, profane, godless, impious, sacri¬ 
legious, desecrating. Irreproachable, blameless, spotless, irreprov- 
able. Irresistible, resistless, irrepressible. Irresolute, wavering, 
undetermined, undecided, vacillating. (Determined.) Irritable, ex¬ 
citable, irascible, susceptible, sensitive. (Calm.) . Irritate, aggravate, 
•worry, embitter, madden, exasperate. ISSUE, v., emerge, rise, proceed, 
flow, spring, emanate. ISSUE, n. } end, upshot, effect, result, offspring, 
progeny. 

Jade, harass, weary, tire, worry. Jangle, wrangle, conflict, dis¬ 
agree. Jarring, conflicting, discordant, inconsonant, inconsistent. 
Jaunt, ramble, excursion, trip. Jealousy, suspicion, envy. Jeopard, 
hazard, peril, endanger. JEST, joke, sport, divert, make game of. 
Journey, travel, tour, passage. Joy, gladness, mirth, delight. (Grief.) 
Judge, justice, referee, arbitrator. Joyful, glad, rejoicing, exultant. 
(Mournful.) Judgment, discernment, discrimination, understanding. 
JUSTICE, equity, right. Justice is right as established by law; equity 
according to the circumstances of each particular case. (Injustice.) 
JUSTNESS, accuracy, correctness, precision. 

Keep, preserve, save. (Abandon.) Kill, assassinate, murder, 
slay. Kindred, affinity, consanguinity, relationship. Knowledge, 
erudition, learning, science. (Ignorance.) 

Labor, toil, work, effort, drudgery. (Idleness.) Lack, need, de¬ 
ficiency, scarcity, insufficiency. (Plenty.) Lament, mourn, grieve, 
weep. (Rejoice.) Language, dialect, idiom, speech, tongue. Lascivi¬ 
ous, loose, unchaste, lustful, lewd, lecherous. (Chaste.) Last, final, 
latest, ultimate. (First.) Laudable, commendable, praiseworthy. 
(Blamable.) Laughable, comical, droll, ludicrous. (Serious.) Law¬ 
ful, legal, legitimate, licit. (Illegal.) Lead, conduct, guide. (Follow.) 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


87 


Lean, meager. (Fat.) Learned, erudite, scholarly. (Ignorant.) 
Leave, v. } quit, relinquish. Leave, n., liberty, permission, license. 
(Prohibition.) Life, existence, animation, spirit, vivacity. (Death.) 
Lifeless, dead, inanimate. Lift, erect, elevate,exalt, raise. (Lower.) 
Light, clear, bright. (Dark.) Lightness, flightiness, giddiness, lev¬ 
ity, volatility. (Seriousness.)' Likeness, resemblance, similarity. 
(Unlikeness.) Linger, lag, loiter, tarry, saunter. (Hasten.) Little, 
diminutive, small. (Great.) Livelihood, living, maintenance, sub¬ 
sistence, support. Lively, jocund, merry, sportive, sprightly, vivaci¬ 
ous. (Slow,- languid, sluggish.) Long, extended, extensive. (Short.) 
Look, appear, seem. LOSE, miss, forfeit. (Gain ) Loss, detriment, 
damage, deprivation. (Gain.) Loud, clamorous, high-sounding, 
noisy. (Low, quiet.) Love, affection. (Hatred.) Low, abject, mean. 
(Noble.) Lunacy, derangement, insanity, mania, madness. (Sanity.) 
Luster, brightness, brilliancy, splendor. Luxuriant, exuberant. 
(Sparse.) 

Machination, plot, intrigue, cabal, conspiracy. (Artlessness.) 
Mad, crazy, delirious, insane, rabid, violent, frantic. (Sane, rational, 
quiet.) Madness, insanity, fury, rage, frenzy. Magisterial, august, 
dignified, majestic, pompous, stately. Make, form, create, produce. 
(Destroy.) Malediction, anathema, curse, imprecation, execration. 
Malevolent, malicious, virulent, malignant. (Benevolent.) Malice, 
spite, rancor, ill-feeling, grudge, animosity, ill-will. (Benignity.) Ma¬ 
licious, see malevolent. Manacle, v., shackle, fetter, chain. (Free.) 
Manage, contrive, concert, direct. Management, direction, super¬ 
intendence, care, economy. Mangle, tear, lacerate, mutilate, cripple, 
maim. Mania, madness, insanity, lunacy. Manifest, z\, reveal, 
prove, evince, exhibit, display, show. Manifest, a., clear, plain, evi¬ 
dent, open, apparent, visible. (Hidden, occult.) Manifold, several, 
sundry, various, divers, numerous. Manly, masculine, vigorous, cour¬ 
ageous, brave, heroic. (Effeminate.) Manner, habit, custom, way, 
air, look, appearance. Manners, morals, habits, behavior, carriage. 
Mar, spoil, ruin, disfigure. (Improve.) March, tramp, tread, walk, 
step, space. Margin, edge, rim, border, brink, verge. Mark, n., 
sign, note, symptom, token, indication, trace, vestige, track, badge, 
brand. Mark, v., impress, print, stamp, engrave, note, designate. 
Marriage, wedding, nuptials, matrimony, wedlock. Martial, mili¬ 
tary, warlike, soldier-like. Marvel, wonder, miracle, prodigy. Mar¬ 
velous, wondrous, wonderfnl, amazing, miraculous. Massive, bulky, 
heavy, weighty, ponderous, solid, substantial. (Flimsy.) Mastery, 
dominion, rule, sway, ascendancy, supremacy. Matchless, unrivaled, 
unequaled, unparalleled, peerless, incomparable, inimitable, surpassing. 
(Common, ordinary.) Material, a ., corporeal, bodily, physical, tem¬ 
poral, momentous, important. (Spiritual, immaterial.) Maxim, adage, 
apophthegm, proverb, saying, by-word, saw. MEAGER, poor, lank, 
emaciated, barren, dry, uninteresting. (Rich.) Mean, a., stingy, nig¬ 
gardly, low, abject, vile, ignoble, degraded, contemptible, vulgar, despic¬ 
able. (Generous.) Mean, v., design, purpose, intent, contemplate, 
signify, denote, indicate. Meaning, signification, import, acceptation, 
sense, purport. Medium, organ, channel, instrument, means. Medley, 
mixture, variety, diversity, miscellany. Meek, unassuming, mild, 
gentle. (Proud.) Melancholy, low-spirited, dispirited, dreamy, sad. 
(Jolly buoyant.) Mellow, ripe, mature, soft.* (Immature.) Melodi¬ 
ous, tuneful, musical, silver, dulcet, sweet. (Discordant.) Memorable, 


88 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


signal, distinguished, marked. Memorial, monument, memento, com¬ 
memoration. Memory, remembrance, recollection. Menace, ?/., 
threat. Mend, repair, amend, correct, better, ameliorate, improve, rec¬ 
tify. Mention, tell, name, communicate, impart, divulge, reveal, dis¬ 
close, inform, acquaint. Merciful, compassionate, lenient, clement, 
tender, gracious, kind. (Cruel.) Merciless, hard-hearted, cruel, un¬ 
merciful, pitiless, remorseless, unrelenting. (Kind.) Merriment, 
mirth, joviality, jollity, hilarity. (Sorrow.) Merry, cheerful, mirth¬ 
ful, joyous, gay, lively, sprightly, hilarious, blithe, blithesome, jovial, 
sportive, jolly. (Sad.) Metaphorical, figurative, allegorical, sym¬ 
bolical. Method, way, manner, mode, process, order, rule, regularity, 
system. Mien, air, look, manner, aspect, appearance. Migratory, 
roving, strolling, wandering, vagrant. (Settled, sedate, permanent.) 
Mimic, imitate, ape, mock. Mindful, observant, attentive, heedful, 
thoughtful. (Heedless.) Miscellaneous, promiscuous, indiscriminate, 
mixed. Mischief, injury, harm, damage, hurt, evil, ill. (Benefit.) 
Miscreant, caitiff, villain, ruffian. Miserable, unhappy, wretched, 
distressed, afflicted. (Happy.) Miserly, stingy, niggardly, avaricious, 
grasping. Misery, wretchedness, woe, destitution, penury, privation, 
beggary. (Happiness.) Misfortune, calamity, disaster, mishap, catas¬ 
trophe. (Good luck.) Miss, omit, lose, fail, miscarry. Mitigate, 
alleviate, relieve, abate, diminish. (Aggravate.) Moderate, temperate, 
abstemious, sober, abstinent. (Immoderate.) Modest, chaste, virtuous, 
bashful, reserved. (Immodest.) Moist, wet, damp, dank, humid. 
(Dry.) Monotonous, unvaried, dull, tiresome, undiversified. (Varied.) 
Monstrous, shocking, dreadful, horrible, huge, immense. Monu¬ 
ment, memorial, record, remembrancer, cenotaph. Mood, humor, dis¬ 
position, vein, temper. Morbid, sick, ailing, sickly, diseased, cor¬ 
rupted. (Normal, sound.) Morose, gloomy, sullen, surly, fretful, 
crabbed, crusty. (Joyous.) Mortal, deadly, fatal, human. Motion, 
proposition, proposal, movement. Motionless, still, stationary, torpid, 
stagnant. (Active, moving.) Mount, arise, rise, ascend, soar, tower, 
climb, scale. Mournful, sad, sorrowful, lugubrious, grievous, doleful, 
heavy. (Happy.) Move, actuate, impel, induce, prompt, instigate, 
persuade, stir, agitate, propel, push. Multitude, crowd, throng, host, 
mob, swarm. Murder, v. y kill, assassinate, slay, massacre, despatch. 
Muse, v., meditate, contemplate, think, reflect, cogitate, ponder. 
Music, harmony, melody, symphony. Musical, tuneful, melodious, 
harmonious, dulcet, sweet. Musty, stale, sour, fetid. (Fresh, sweet.) 
Mute, dumb, silent, speechless. Mutilate, maim, cripple, disable, 
disfigure. Mutinous, insurgent, seditious, tumultuous, turbulent, riot¬ 
ous. (Obedient, orderly.) Mutual, reciprocal, interchanged, correl¬ 
ative. (Sole, solitary.) Mysterious, dark, obscure, hidden, secret, 
dim, mystic, enigmatical, unaccountable. ^Open, clear.) Mystify, 
confuse, perplex, puzzle. (Clear, explain.) 

Naked, nude, bare, uncovered, unclothed, rough, rude, simple. (Cov¬ 
ered, clad.) Name, v., denominate, entitle, style, designate, term, call, 
christen. Name, n., appellation, designation, denomination, title, cog¬ 
nomen, reputation, character, fame, credit, repute. Narrate, tell, re¬ 
late, detail, recount, describe, enumerate, rehearse, recite. Nasty, 
filthy, foul, dirty, unclean, impure, indecent, gross, vile. Nation' 
people, community, realm, state. Native, indigenous, inborn, vernac¬ 
ular. Natural, original, regular, normal, bastard. (Unnatural, forced.) 
Near, nigh, neighboring, close, adjacent, contiguous, intimate. (Dis- 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


89 


tant.) Necessary, needful, expedient, essential, requisite, indispens¬ 
able. (Useless.) Necessitate, v., compel, force, oblige. Necessity, 
need, occasion, exigency, emergency, urgency, requisite. Need, n., 
necessity, distress, poverty, indigence, want, penury. Need, v., require, 
want, lack. Neglect, v., disregard, slight, omit, overlook. Neglect, 
n omission, failure, default, negligence, remissness, carelessness, slight. 
Neighborhood, environs, vicinity, nearness, adjacency, proximity. 
Nervous, timid, timorous, shaky. New, fresh, recent, novel. (Old.) 
News, tidings, intelligence, information. Nice, exact, accurate, good, 
particular, precise, fine, delicate. (Careless, coarse, unpleasant.) 
Nimble, active, brisk, lively, alert, quick, agile, prompt. (Awkward.) 
Nobility, aristocracy, greatness, grandeur, peerage. Noble, exalted, 
elevated, illustrious, great, grand, lofty. (Dow.) Noise, cry, outcry, 
clamor, row, din, uproar, tumult. (Silence.) Nonsensical, irrational, 
absurd, silly, foolish. (Sensible.) Notable, plain, evident, remark¬ 
able, signal, striking, rare. (Obscure.) Note, s., token, symbol, mark, 
sign, indication, remark, comment. NOTED, distinguished, remarkable, 
eminent, renowned. (Obscure.) Notice, n., advice, notification, intel¬ 
ligence, information. Notice, v., mark, note, observe, attend to, regard, 
heed. Notify, v., publish, acquaint, apprise, inform, declare. Notion, 
conception, idea, belief, opinion, sentiment. Notorious, conspicuous, 
open, obvious, ill-famed. (Unknown.) Nourish, nurture, cherish, 
foster, supply. (Starve, famish.) Nourishment, food, diet, sustenance, 
nutrition. Novel, modern, new, fresh, recent, unused, strange, rare. 
(Old.) Noxious, hurtful, deadly, poisonous, deleterious, baneful. 
(Beneficial.) Nullify, annul, vacate, invalidate, quash, cancel, repeal. 
(Affirm.) Nutrition, food, diet, nutriment, nourishment. 

Obdurate, hard, callous, hardened, unfeeling, insensible. (Yield¬ 
ing, tractable.) Obedient, compliant, submissive, dutiful, respectful. 
(Obstinate.) OBESE, corpulent, fat, adipose, fleshy. (Attenuated.) 
Obey, v., conform, comply, submit. (Rebel, disobey.) Object, s. , aim, 
end, purpose, design, mark, butt. Object, v., oppose, except to, con¬ 
travene, impeach, deprecate. (Assent.) Obnoxious, offensive. (Agree¬ 
able.) Obscure, undistinguished, unknown. (Distinguished.) Obsti¬ 
nate, contumacious, headstrong, stubborn, obdurate. (Yielding.) Occa¬ 
sion, opportunity. OFFENSE, affront, misdeed, misdemeanor, transgres¬ 
sion, trespass. Offensive, insolent, abusive, obnoxious. (Inoffensive.) 
OFFICE, charge, function, place. Offspring, issue, progeny. Old, 
aged, superannuated, ancient, antique, antiquated, obsolete, old-fash¬ 
ioned. (Young, new.) Omen, presage, prognostic. Opaque, . dark. 
(Bright, transparent.) Open, candid, unreserved, clear, fair. (Hidden, 
dark.) Opinion, notion, view, judgment, belief, sentiment. Opinion¬ 
ated, conceited, egoistical. (Modest.) Oppose, resist, withstand, 
thwart. (Give way.) Option, choice. Order, method, rule, system, 
regularity. (Disorder.) Origin, cause, occasion, beginning, source. 
(End.) OUTLIVE, survive. Outward, external, outside, exterior. 
(Inner.) Over, above. (Under.) Overbalance, outweigh, prepond¬ 
erate. Overbear, bear down, overwhelm, overpower, subdue. _ Over¬ 
bearing, haughty, arrogant, proud. (Gentle.) Overflow, inunda¬ 
tion, deluge. Overrule, supersede, suppress. Overspread, overrun, 
ravage. Overturn, invert, overthrow, reverse, subvert. (Establish, 
fortify.) Overwhelm, crush, defeat, vanquish. 

Pain, suffering, qualm, pang, agony, anguish. (Pleasure.) Pallid, 
pale, wan. (Florid.) Part, division, portion, share, fraction. (Whole.) 


90 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Particular, exact, distinct, odd, singular, strange. (General.) Pa¬ 
tient, passive, submissive, meek. (Obdurate.) Peace, calm, quiet, 
tranquility. (War, riot, trouble, turbulence.) Peaceable, pacific, 
peaceful, quiet. (Troublesome, riotous.) Penetrate, bore, pierce, 
perforate. Penetration, acuteness, sagacity. (Dullness.) People, 
nation, persons, folks. Perceive, note, observe, discern, distinguish. 
Perception, conception, notion, idea. Peril, danger, pitfall, snare. 
(Safety.) Permit, allow, tolerate. (Forbid.) Persuade, allure, entice, 
prevail upon. Physical, corporeal, bodily, material. (Mental.) Pict¬ 
ure, engraving, print, representation, illustration, image. PITEOUS, 
doleful, woeful, rueful. (Joyful.) Pitiless, see merciless. Pity, com¬ 
passion, sympathy. (Cruelty.) Place, spot, site, position, post, 
situation, station. Place, order, dispose. Plain, open, manifest, 
evident. (Secret.) Play, game, sport, amusement. (Work.) Please, 
gratify, pacify. (Displease.) PLEASURE, charm, delight, joy. (Pain.) 
Plentiful, abundant, ample, copious, plenteous. (Scarce.) Poise, 
balance. Positive, absolute, peremptory, decided, certain. (Negative.) 
Possessor, owner, master, proprietor. Possible, practical, practicable. 
(Impossible.) Poverty, penury, indigence, need, want. (Wealth.) 
Power, authority, force, strength, dominion. Powerful, mighty, 
potent. (Weak.) Praise, commend, extol, laud. (Blame.) Prayer, 
entreaty, petition, request, suit. PRETENSE n., pretext, subterfuge. 
Prevailing, predominant, prevalent, general. (Isolated, sporadic.) 
Prevent, v., obviate, preclude. Previous, antecedent, introductory, 
preparatory, preliminary. (Subsequent.) Pride, vanity, conceit. (Hu¬ 
mility.) Principally, chiefly, essentially, mainly. Principle, ground, 
reason, motive, impulse, maxim, rule, rectitude, integrity. Privilege, 
immunity, advantage, favor, prerogative, exemption, right, claim. 
Probity, rectitude, uprightness, honesty, integrity, sincerity, soundness. 
(Dishonesty.) Problematical, uncertain, doubtful, dubious, question¬ 
able, disputable, suspicious. (Certain.) Prodigious, huge, enormous, 
vast, amazing, astonishing, astounding, surprising, remarkable, wonder¬ 
ful. (Insignificant.) Profession, business, trade, occupation, voca¬ 
tion, office, employment, engagement, avowal. Proffer, volunteer, 
offer, propose, tender. Profligate, abandoned, dissolute, depraved, 
vicious, degenerate, corrupt, demoralized. (Virtuous.) Profound, 
deep, fathomless, penetrating, solemn, abstruse, recondite. (Shallow.) 
Profuse, extravagant, prodigal, lavish, improvident, excessive, copious, 
plentiful. (Succinct.) Prolific, productive, generative, fertile, fruit¬ 
ful, teeming. (Barren.) Prolix, diffuse, long, prolonged, tedious, 
tiresome, wordy, verbose, prosaic. (Concise, brief.) Prominent, emi¬ 
nent, conspicuous, marked, important, leading. (Obscure.) Promis¬ 
cuous, mixed, unarranged, mingled, indiscriminate. (Select.) Prompt, 
see punctual. Prop, v., maintain, sustain, support, stay. Propagate, 
spread, circulate, diffuse, disseminate, extend, breed, increase. (Sup¬ 
press.) Proper, legitimate, right, just, fair, equitable, honest, suitable, 
fit, adapted, meet, becoming, befitting, decent, pertinent, appropriate. 
(Wrong.) Prosper, flourish, succeed, grow rich, thrive, advance. (Fail.) 
Prosperity, well-being, weal, welfare, happiness, good luck. (Poverty.) 
Proxy, agent, representative, substitute, delegate, deputy. Prudence, 
carefulness, judgment, discretion, wisdom. (Indiscretion.) Prurient, 
itching, craving, hankering, longing. Puerile, youthful, juvenile, 
boyish, childish, infantile, trifling, weak, .silly. (Mature.) Punctilious, 
nice, particular, formal, precise. (Negligent.) Punctual, exact, pre- 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


91 


cise, nice, particular, prompt, timely. (Dilatory.) Putrefy, rot, 
decompose, corrupt, decay. Puzzle, v., perplex, confound, embarrass, 
bewilder, confuse, pose, mystify. (Enlighten.) 

Quack, impostor, pretender, charlatan, empiric, mountebank. (Sa¬ 
vant.) Quaint, artful, curious, far-fetched, fanciful, odd, singular. 
Qualified, competent, fitted, adapted. (Incompetent.) Quauity, 
attribute, rank, distinction. Querulous, doubting, complaining, fret¬ 
ting, repining. (Patient.) _ Question, query, inquiry, interrogatory. 
Quibble, cavil, evade, equivocate, shuffle, prevaricate. Quick, lively, 
ready, prompt, alert, nimble, agile, active, brisk, expeditious, adroit, 
fleet, rapid, swift, impetuous, sweeping, dashing, clever, sharp. (Slow.) 
Quote, note, repeat, cite, adduce. 

Rabid, mad, furious, raging, frantic. (Rational.) Race, course, 
match, pursuit, career, family, clan, house, ancestry, lineage, pedigree. 
Rack, agonize, wring, torture, excruciate, distress, harass. (Soothe.) 
Racy, spicy, pungent, smart, spirited, lively, vivacious. (Dull, insipid.) 
Radiance, splendor, brightness, brilliance, brilliancy, luster, glare. 
{Dullness.) Radical, organic, innate, fundamental, original, constitu¬ 
tional, inherent, complete, entire. (Superficial. In a political sense, 
uncompromising; antonym, moderate.) Rancid, fetid, rank, stinking, 
sour, tainted, reasty. (Fresh, sweet.) Rancor, malignity, hatred, hos¬ 
tility, antipathy, animosity, enmity, ill-will, spite. (Forgiveness.) 
Rank, order, degree, dignity, nobility, consideration. Ransack, rum¬ 
mage, pillage, overhaul, explore, plunder. Ransom, emancipate, free, 
unfetter. Rant, bombast, fustian, cant. Rapacious, ravenous, vora¬ 
cious, greedy, grasping. (Generous.) Rapt, ecstatic, transported, rav¬ 
ished, entranced, charmed. (Distracted.) Rapture, ecstasy, transport, 
delight, bliss. (Dejection.) Rare, scarce, singular, uncommon, unique. 
Rascae, scoundrel, rogue, knave, scamp, vagabond. Rash, hasty, pre¬ 
cipitate, foolhardy, adventurous, heedless, reckless, careless. (Delib¬ 
erate.) Rate, value, compute, appraise, estimate, chide, abuse. Ratify, 
confirm, establish, substantiate, sanction. (Protest, oppose.) Rationae, 
reasonable, sagacious, judicious, wise, sensible, sound. (Unreasonable.) 
Ravage, overrun, overspread, desolate, despoil, destroy. Ravish, 
enrapture, enchant, charm, delight, abuse. Raze, demolish, destroy, 
overthrow, ruin, dismantle. (Buildup.) Reach, touch, stretch, attain, 
gain, arrive at. Ready, prepared, ripe, apt, prompt, adroit, handy, 
(Slow, dilatory.) Reae, actual, literal, practical, positive, certain, genu¬ 
ine, true. (Unreal.) Reaeize, accomplish, achieve, effect, gain, get, 
acquire, comprehend. Reap, gain, get, acquire, obtain. Reason, 
motive, design, end, proof, cause, ground, purpose. Reason, deduce, 
draw from, trace, infer, conclude. Reasonable, rational, wise, honest, 
fair, right, just. (Unreasonable.) Rebellion, insurrection, revolt. 
Recant, recall, abjure, retract, revoke. Recede, retire, retreat, with¬ 
draw, ebb. Receive, accept, take, admit, entertain. Reception. 
receiving, levee, receipt, admission. RECESS, retreat, depth, niche, 
vacation, intermission. Recreation, sport, pastime, play, amusement, 
game, fun. Redeem, ransom, recover, rescue, deliver, save, free. Re¬ 
dress, remedy, repair, remission, abatement, relief. Reduce, abate, 
lessen, decrease, lower, shorten, conquer. Refined, polite, courtly, 
polished, cultured, genteel, purified. (Boorish.) Reflect, consider, 
cogitate, think, ponder, muse, censure. Reform, amend, correct, bet¬ 
ter, restore, improve. (Corrupt.) Reformation, improvement, reform, 
amendment. (Corruption.) Refuge, asylum, protection, harbor, shel- 


92 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


ter, retreat. REFUSE, u., deny, reject, repudiate, decline, withhold. 
(Accept.) Refuse, «., dregs, dross, scum, rubbish, leavings, remains. 
Refute, disprove, falsify, negative. (Affirm.) Regard, v. y mind, heed, 
notice, behold, view, consider, respect. REGRET, «., grief, sorrow, lam¬ 
entation, repentance, remorse. Reguear, orderly, uniform, custom- 
arv, ordinary, stated. (Irregular.) REGULATE, methodize, arrange, 
adjust, organize, govern, rule. (Disorder.) Reimburse, refund, repay, 
satisfy, indemnify. RELEVANT, fit, proper, suitable, appropriate, perti¬ 
nent, apt. (Irrelevant.) Reliance, trust, hope, dependence, confi¬ 
dence. (Suspicion.) Relief, succor, aid, help, redress, alleviation. 
Relinquish, give up, forsake, resign, surrender, quit, leave, forego. 
(Retain.) Remedy, help, relief, redress, cure, specific, reparation. Re¬ 
morseless, pitiless, relentless, cruel, ruthless, merciless, barbarous. 
(Merciful, humane.) Remote, distant, far, secluded, indirect. (Near.) 
Reproduce, propagate, imitate, represent, copy. Repudiate, disown, 
discard, disavow, renounce, disclaim. (Acknowledge.) Repugnant, 
antagonistic, distasteful. (Agreeable.) Repulsive, forbidding, odious, 
ugly, disagreeable, revolting. (Attractive.) Respite, reprieve, inter¬ 
val, stop, pause. Revenge, vengeance, retaliation, requital, retribution. 
(Forgiveness.) Revenue, produce, income, fruits, proceeds, w r ealth, 
Reverence, n., honor, respect, awe, veneration, deference, worship, 
homage. (Execration.) Revise, review, reconsider. Revive, refresh, 
renew, renovate, animate, resuscitate, vivify, cheer, comfort. Rich, 
wealthy, affluent, opulent, copious, ample, abundant, exuberant, 
plentiful, fertile, fruitful, superb, gorgeous. (Poor.) Rival, n ., 
antagonist, opponent, competitor. Road, way, highway, route, course, 
path, pathway, anchorage. Roam, ramble, rove, w r ander, stray, stroll. 
Robust, strong, lusty, vigorous, sinewy, stout, sturdy, stalwart, able- 
bodied. (Puny.) Rout, v., discomfit, beat, defeat, overthrow, scatter. 
Route, road, course, march, way, journey, path, direction. Rude, 
rugged, rough, uncouth, unpolished, harsh, gruff, impertinent, saucy, 
flippant, impudent, insolent, churlish. (Polished, polite.) Rule, sway, 
method, system, law, maxim, precept, guide, formula, regulation, gov¬ 
ernment, standard, test. Rumor, hearsay, talk, fame, report, bruit. 
Ruthless, cruel, savage, barbarous, inhuman, merciless, remorseless, 
relentless, unrelenting. (Considerate.) 

Sacred, holy, hallowed, divine,consecrated, dedicated,devoted. (Pro¬ 
fane.) Safe, secure, harmless, trustworthy, reliable. (Perilous, dangerous.) 
Sanction, confirm, countenance, encourage, support, ratify, authorize. 
(Disapprove.) Sane, sober, lucid, sound, rational. (Crazy.) Saucy, 
impertinent, rude, impudent, insolent, flippant, forward. (Modest.) 
Scandalize, shock, disgust, offend, calumniate, vilify, revile, malign, 
traduce, defame, slander. Scanty, bare, pinched, insufficient, slender, 
meager. (Ample.) Scatter, strew, spread, disseminate, disperse, dissipate, 
dispel. (Collect.) Secret, clandestine, concealed, hidden, sly, under¬ 
hand, latent, private. (Open.) Seduce, allure, attract, decoy, entice, 
abduct, inveigle, deprave. Sense, discernment, appreciation, view, opin¬ 
ion, feeling, perception, sensibility, susceptibility, thought, judgment, 
signification, import, significance, meaning, purport, wisdom. Sens¬ 
ible, wise, intelligent, reasonable, sober, sound, conscious, aware. 
(Foolish.) SETTLE, arrange, adjust, regulate, conclude, determine. 
Several, sundry, divers, various, many. SEVERE, harsh, stern, strin¬ 
gent, unmitigated, rough, unyielding. (Lenient.) Shake, tremble, 
shudder, shiver, quake, quiver. Shallow, superficial, flimsy, slight. 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


93 


(Deep, thorough.) Shame:, disgrace, dishonor. (Honor.) Shameful, 
degrading, scandalous, disgraceful, outrageous. (Honorable.) Shame¬ 
less, immodest, impudent, indecent, indelicate, brazen. Shape, form, 
fashion, mold, model. Share, portion, lot, division, quantity, quota, 
contingent. Sharp, acute, keen. (Dull.) Shine, glare, glitter, radi¬ 
ate, sparkle. Short, brief, concise, succinct, summary. (Dong.) Show, 
v-y indicate, mark, point out, exhibit, display. Show, «., exhibition, 
representation, sight, spectacle. Sick, diseased, sickly, unhealthy, mor¬ 
bid. (Healthy.) Sickness, n ., illness, indisposition, disease, disorder. 
(Health.) Significant, a ., expressive, material, important. (Insignifi¬ 
cant.) Signification, import, meaning, sense. Silence, speechless¬ 
ness, dumbness. (Noise.) Silent, dumb, mute, speechless. (Talka¬ 
tive.) Simile, comparison, similitude. Simple, single, uncompounded, 
artless, plain. (Complex, compound.) Simulate, dissimulate, dis¬ 
semble, pretend. Sincere, candid, hearty, honest, pure, genuine, real. 
(Insincere.) Situation, condition, plight, predicament, state, position. 
Size, bulk, greatness, magnitude, dimension. Slavery, servitude, en¬ 
thrallment, thralldom. (Freedom.) Sleep, doze, drowse, nap, slum¬ 
ber. Sleepy, somnolent, (Wakeful.) Slo.v, dilatory, tardy. (Fast.) 
Smell, fragrance, odor, perfume, scent. Smooth, even, level, mild. 
(Rough.) Soak, drench, imbrue, steep. Social, sociable, friendly, 
communicative. (Unsocial.) Soft, gentle, meek, mild. (Hard.) Solicit, 
importune, urge. Solitary, sole, only, single. Sorry, grieved, 
poor, paltry, insignificant. (Glad, respectable.) Soul, mind, spirit. 
(Soul is opposed to body, mind to matter.) Sound, v., healthy, sane. 
(Unsound.) Sound, «., tone, noise. (Silence.) Space, room. Sparse, 
scanty, thin. (Luxuriant.) Speak, converse, talk, confer, say, tell. 
Special, particular, specific. (General.) Spend, expend, exhaust, con¬ 
sume, waste, squander, dissipate. (Save.) Sporadic, isolated, rare. 
(General, prevalent.) Spread, disperse, diffuse, expand, disseminate, 
scatter. Spring, fountain, source. Staff, prop, support, stay. Stagger, 
reel, totter. Stain, soil, discolor, spot, sully, tarnish. State, common¬ 
wealth, realm. STERILE, barren, unfruitful. (Fertile.) Stifle, choke, 
suffocate, smother. Stormy, rough, boisterous, tempestuous. (Calm.) 
Straight, direct, right. (Crooked.) Strait, a., narrow, confined. 
Stranger, alien, foreigner. (Friend.) Strengthen, fortify, invigorate. 
(Weaken.) Strong, robust, sturdy, powerful. (Weak.) Stupid, dull, 
foolish, obtuse, witless. (Clever.) Subject, exposed to, liable, ob¬ 
noxious. (Exempt.) Subject, inferior, subordinate. (Superior to, 
above.) Subsequent, succeeding, following. (Previous.) Substan¬ 
tial, solid, durable. (Unsubstantial.) Suit, accord, agree. (Disagree.) 
Superficial, flimsy, shallow, untrustworthy. (Thorough.) . Super¬ 
fluous, unnecessary, excessive. (Necessary.) Surround, encircle, en¬ 
compass, environ. Sustain, maintain, support. Symmetry, propor¬ 
tion. Sympathy, commiseration, compassion, condolence. System, 
method, plan, order. Systematic, orderly, regular, methodical. (Cha¬ 
otic.) 

Take, accept, receive. (Give.) Talkative, garrulous, loquacious, 
communicative. (Silent.) Taste, flavor, relish, savor. (Tastelessness.) 
Tax, custom, duty, impost, excise, toll. Tax, assessment, rate. Tease, 
taunt, tantalize, torment, vex. Temporary, a., fleeting, transient, 
transitory. (Permanent.) Tenacious, pertinacious, retentive. Tend¬ 
ency, aim, drift, scope. Tenet, position, view, conviction, belief. 
Term, boundary, limit, period, time. Territory, dominion. Thank- 


94 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


ful, grateful, obliged. (Thankless.) Thankless, ungracious, profit¬ 
less, ungrateful, unthankful. Thaw, melt, dissolve, liquefy. , (Freeze.) 
Theatrical, dramatic, showy, ceremonious, meretricious. Theft, 
robbery, depredation, spoliation. Theme, subject, topic, text, essay. 
Theory, speculation, scheme, plea, hypothesis, conjecture. There¬ 
fore, accordingly, consequently, hence. Thick, dense, close, com¬ 
pact, solid, coagulated, muddy, turbid, misty, foggy, vaporous. (Thin.) 
Thin, slim, slender, slight, flimsy, lean, attenuated, scraggy. Think, 
cogitate, consider, reflect, ponder, contemplate, meditate, muse, con¬ 
ceive, fancy, imagine, apprehend, hold, esteem, reckon, consider, re¬ 
gard, deem, believe, opine. Thorough, accurate, correct, trustworthy, 
reliable, complete. (Superficial.) Thought, idea, conception, imagi¬ 
nation, fancy, conceit, notion, supposition, care, provision, considera¬ 
tion, opinion, view, sentiment, reflection, deliberation. Thoughtful, 
considerate, careful, cautious, heedful, contemplative, reflective, provi¬ 
dent, pensive, dreamy. (Thoughtless.) Thoughtless, inconsiderate, 
rash, precipitate, improvident, heedless. Tie, v., blind, restrain, re¬ 
strict, oblige, secure, unite, join. (Loose.) Tie, n., band, ligament, 
ligature. Time, duration, season, period, era, age, date, span, spell. 
Tolerate, allow, admit, receive, suffer, permit, let, endure, abide. 
(Oppose.) Top, summit, apex, head, crown, surface. (Bottom, base.) 
Torrid, burning, hot, parching, scorching, sultry. Tortuous, twisted, 
winding, crooked, indirect. Torture, torment, anguish, agony. Touch¬ 
ing, tender, affecting, moving, pathetic. Tractable, docile, manage¬ 
able, amenable. Trade, traffic, commerce, dealing, occupation, em¬ 
ployment, office. Traditional, oral, uncertain, transmitted. Traffic, 
trade, exchange, commerce, intercourse. Trammel, «., fetter, shackle, 
clog, bond, chain, impediment, hindrance. Tranquil, still, unruffled, 
peaceful, quiet, hushed. (Noisy, boisterous.) Transaction, negotiation, 
occurrence, proceeding, affair. Trash, nonsense, twiddle, trifles, dross. 
Travel, trip, ramble, peregrination, excursion, journey, tour, voyage. 
Treacherous, traitorous, disloyal, treasonable, faithless, false-hearted, 
perfidious, sly, false. (Trustworthy, faithful.) Trite, stale, old, ordi¬ 
nary, commonplace, hackneyed. (Novel.) Triumph, achievement, 
ovation, victory, conquest, jubilation. (Failure, defeat.) Trivial, 
trifling, petty, small, frivolous, unimportant, insignificant. (Important.) 
True, genuine, actual, sincere, unaffected, true-hearted, honest, up¬ 
right, veritable, real, veracious, authentic, exact, accurate, correct. 
Tumultuous, turbulent, riotous, disorderly, disturbed, confused, unruly. 
(Orderly.) True, tone, air, melody, strain. Turbid, foul, thick, 
muddy, impure, unsettled. (Placid.) Type, emblem, symbol, figure, 
sign, kind, sort, better. Tyro, novice, beginner, learner. 

Ugly, unsightly, plain, homely, ill-favored, hideous. (Beautiful.) 
Umbrage, offence, dissatisfaction, displeasure, resentment. Umpire, 
referee, arbitrator, judge, arbiter. Unanimity, accord, agreement, 
unity, concord. (Discord.) Unanimous, agreeing, like-minded. Un¬ 
bridled, wanton, licentious, dissolute, loose, lax. Uncertain, doubt¬ 
ful, dubious, questionable, fitful, equivocal, ambiguous, indistinct, varia¬ 
ble, flunctuating. Uncivil, rude, discourteous, disrespectful, disobliging. 
(Civil.) Unclean, dirty, foul, filthy, sullied. (Clean.) Uncommon, rare, 
strange, scarce, singular, choice. (Common, ordinary.) Unconcerned, 
careless, indifferent, apathetic. (Anxious.) Uncouth, strange, odd, 
clumsy, ungainly. (Graceful.) Uncover, reveal, strip, expose, lay bare, 
divest. (Hide.) Under, below, underneath, beneath, subordinate, lower, 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


95 - 


inferior. (Above*) Understanding, knowledge, intellect, intelligence, 
faculty, comprehension, mind, reason, brains. Undertake, engage in, 
embark in, agree, promise. Undo, annul, frustrate, untie, unfasten’ 
destroy. Uneasy, restless, disturbed, unquiet, stiff, awkward. (Quiet.) 
Unequal, uneven, not alike, irregular, insufficient. (Even.) Unequaled, 
matchless, unique, novel, new, unheard of. Unfair, wrongful, dishonest, 
unjust. (Fair.) Unfit, a., improper, unsuitable, inconsistent, untimely, 
incompetent. (Fit.) Unfit, v., disable, incapacitate, disqualify. (Fit.) 
Unfortunate, calamitous, ill-fated, unlucky, wretched, unhappy, miser- 
ble. (Fortunate.) Ungainly, clumsy, awkward, lumbering, uncouth. 
(Pretty.) Unhappy, miserable, wretched, distressed, afflicted, painful, 
disastrous, drear, dismal. (Happy.) Uniform, regular, symmetrical, 
equal, even, alike, unvaried. (Irregular.) Uninterrupted, continuous, 
perpetual, unceasing, incessant, endless. (Intermittent.) Union, junction, 
combination, alliance, confederacy, league, coalition, agreement, concert. 
(Disunion, separation.) Unique, unequal, uncommon, rare, choice, 
matchless. (Common, ordinary.) Unite, join, conjoin, combine, con¬ 
cert, add, attach, incorporate, embody, clench, merge. (Separate, disrupt, 
sunder.) Universal, general, all, entire, total, catholic. (Sectional.) 
Unlimited, absolute, • undefined, boundless, infinite. (Uimited.) Un¬ 
reasonable, foolish, silly, absurd, preposterous, ridiculous. Unrivaled, 
unequaled, unique, unexampled, incomparable, matchless. (Mediocre.) 
Unroll, unfold, open, discover. Unruly, ungovernable, unmanageable, 
refractory. (Tractable, docile.) Unusual, rare, unwonted, singular, un¬ 
common, remarkable, strange, extraordinary. (Common.) Uphold, 
maintain, defend, sustain, support, vindicate. (Desert, abandon.) Up¬ 
right, vertical, perpendicular, erect, just, equitable, fair, pure, honor¬ 
able. (Prone, horizontal.) Uprightness, honesty, integrity, fairness, 
goodness, probity, virtue, honor. (Dishonesty.) URGE, incite, impel, 
push, drive, instigate, stimulate, press, induce, solicit. Urgent, press¬ 
ing, important, imperative, immediate, serious, wanted. (Unimportant.) 
Usage, custom, fashion, practice, prescription. USE, n., usage, practice, 
habit, custom, avail, advantage, utility, benefit, application. (Disuse, 
desuetude.) USE, v., employ, exercise, occupy, practise, accustom, inure. 
(Abuse.) Useful, advantageous, serviceable, available, helpful, benefi¬ 
cial, good. (Useless.) USELESS, unserviceable, fruitless, idle, profitless. 
(Useful.) Usual, ordinary, common, accustomed, habitual, wonted, 
customary, general. (Unusual.) Usurp, arrogate, seize, appropriate, as¬ 
sume. Utmost, farthest, remotest, uttermost, greatest. Utter, a., ex¬ 
treme, excessive, sheer, mere, pure. UTTER, v. } speak, articulate, pro¬ 
nounce, express, issue. Utterly, totally, completely, wholly, quite, 
altogether, entirely. 

Vacant, empty, unfilled, unoccupied, thoughtless, unthinking. 
(Occupied.) Vagrant, wanderer, beggar, tramp, vagabond, rogue. 
VAGUE, unsettled, undetermined, uncertain, pointless, indefinite. (Defi¬ 
nite.) Vain, useless, fruitless, empty, worthless, inflated, proud, con¬ 
ceited, unreal, unavailing. (Effectual, humble, real.) Valiant, brave, 
bold, valorous, courageous, gallant. (Cowardly.) Valid, weighty, 
strong, powerful, sound, binding, efficient. (Invalid.) Valor, courage, 
gallantry, boldness, bravery, heroism. (Cowardice.) Value, v., ap¬ 
praise, assess, reckon, appreciate, estimate, prize, esteem, treasure. 
(Despise, condemn.) Vanish, disappear, fade, melt, dissolve. Vanity, 
emptiness, conceit, self-conceit, affectedness. Vapid, dull, flat, insipid, 
stale, tame. (Sparkling.) Vapor, fume, smoke, mist, fog, steam. 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION 


96 

Variable, changeable, unsteady, inconstant, shifting, wavering, fickle, 
restless, fitful. (Constant.) Variety, difference, diversity, change, 
diversification, mixture, medley, miscellany. (Sameness, monotony.) 
Vast, spacious, boundless, mighty, enormous, immense, colossal, 
gigantic, huge, prodigious. (Confined.) Vaunt, boast, brag, puff, 
hawk, advertise, flourish, parade. Venerable, grave, sage, wise, old, 
reverend. Venial, pardonable, excusable, justifiable. (Grave, serious.) 
Venom, poison, virus, spite, malice, malignity. Venture, n., specu¬ 
lation, chance, peril, stake. VENTURE, v., dare, adventure, risk, hazard, 
jeopardize. VERACITY, truth, truthfulness, credibility, accuracy. 
(Falsehood.) Verbal, oral, spoken, literal, parole. (Unwritten.) Ver¬ 
dict, judgment, finding, decision, answer. Vexation, chagrin, morti¬ 
fication. (Pleasure.) Vibrate, oscillate, swing, sway, wave, undulate, 
thrill. Vice, vileness, corruption, depravity, pollution, immorality, 
wickedness, guilt, iniquity, crime. (Virtue.) Vicious, corrupt, de¬ 
praved, debased, bad, contrary, unruly, demoralized, profligate, faulty. 
(Virtuous, gentle.) Victim, sacrifice, food, prey, sufferer, dupe, gull. 
Victuals, viands, bread, meat, provisions, fare, food, repast. View, 
prospect, survey. Violent, boisterous, furious, impetuous, vehement. 
(Gentle.) Virtuous, upright, honest, moral. (Profligate.) Vision, 
apparition, ghost, phantom, specter. Voluptuary, epicure, sensualist. 
Vote, suffrage, voice. Vouch, affirm, asseverate, assure, aver. 

Wait, await, expect, look for, wait for. Wakeful, vigilant, watch¬ 
ful. (Sleepy.) Wander, range, ramble, roam, rove, stroll. Want, 
lack, need. (Abundance.) Wary, circumspect, cautious. (Foolhardy.) 
Wash, clean, rinse, wet, moisten, stain, tint. Waste, v ., squander, 
dissipate, lavish, destroy, decay, dwindle, wither. Wasteful, extrava¬ 
gant, profligate. (Economical.) Way, method, plan, system, means, 
manner, mode, form, fashion, course, process, road, route, track, path, 
habit, practice. Wave, breaker, billow, surge. Weak, feeble, in¬ 
firm. (Strong.) Weaken, debilitate, enfeeble, enervate, invalidate. 
(Strengthen.) Wearisome, tedious, tiresome. (Interesting, entertain¬ 
ing.) Weary, harass, jade, tire, fatigue. (Refresh.) Weight, gravity, 
heaviness. (Lightness.) Weight, burden, load. Well-being, happi¬ 
ness, prosperity, welfare. Whole, entire, complete, total, integral. 
(Part.) Wicked, iniquitous, nefarious. (Virtuous.) Will, wish, desire. 
Willingly, spontaneously, voluntarily. (Unwillingly.) Win, get, 
obtain, gain, procure, effect, realize, accomplish, achieve. (Lose.) 
Winning, attractive, charming, fascinating, bewitching, enchanting, 
dazzling, brilliant. (Repulsive.) Wisdom, prudence, foresight, far¬ 
sightedness, sagacity. (Foolishness.) Wit, humor, satire, fun, raillery. 
Wonder, v., admire, amaze, astonish, surprise. Wonder, n., marvel, 
miracle, prodigy. Word, n., expression, term. Work, labor, task’ 
toil. (Play.) Worthless, valueless. (Valuable.) Writer, author! 
penman. Wrong, injustice, injury. (Right.) 

Yawn, gape, open wide. Yearn, hanker after, long for, desire, 
crave. YELL, bellow, cry out, scream. Yellow, golden, saffron-like! 
Yelp, bark, sharp cry, howl. Yet, besides, nevertheless, notwithstand¬ 
ing, however, still, ultimately, at last, so far, thus far. Yield, bear 
give, afford, impart, communicate, confer, bestow, abdicate, resign! 
cede, surrender, relinquish, relax, quit, forego, give up, let go, waive! 
comply, accede, assent, acquiesce, succumb, submit. Yielding, supple! 
pliant, bending, compliant, submissive, unresisting. (Obstinate.) Yoke' 
z\, couple, link, connect. Yore, long ago, long since. Young, juve- 


LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


97 


nile, inexperienced, ignorant, youthful. Youth, boy, lad, minority, 
adolescence, juvenility. Youthful, young, juvenile, boyish, girlish, 
puerile. (Old.) 

Zeal, energy, fervor, ardor, earnestness, enthusiasm, eagerness. 
(Indifference.) Zealous, warm, ardent, fervent, enthusiastic, anxious, 
(Indifferent, careless.) Zest, relish, gusto, flavor. (Disgust.) 


FOREIGN PHRASES INTERPRETED. 

INCLUDING QUOTATIONS FROM LIVING AND DEAD LANGUAGES. 

While it is not considered good form to interlard one’s discourse 
with phrases culled from foreign languages, there are many cases wherein 
a thought is more aptly and strikingly put in Latin or French than in 
English. When this is the case, it is certainly permissible to use that 
which gives the best expression to the thought. It is also well to have 
at hand a comprehensive dictionary that will show at a glance just what 
a word, phrase or sentence in a foreign tongue means. The pages which 
follow contain the most complete lexicon of the kind ever published. 


A has, F., down with. 

Ab extra, L-, from without. 

Ab initio, L., from the beginning. 

Ab intra, L., from within. 

Ab normis sapiens, L., wise, without teach¬ 
ing. 

Ab origine, L., from the origin. 

Ab ovo, L., from the egg. 

Absente reo, L-, the accused being: absent. 
Ab uno disce omnes, L-, from one judge all. 
Ab urbo condila, L-, from the founding of 
the city. 

A compte, F., on account. 

A corps perdu, F., headlong. 

Ad aperturam, L.. at the opening. 

Ad astra per aspera, L., to the stars 
through difficulties. (The motto of Kan¬ 
sas. ) 

Ad Calendas Graecas, L., at the Greek 
calends; meaning never, as the Greeks 
had no calends. 

Ad captandum vulgus, L-, to catch the 
vulgar. 

Ad eundem, L-, to the same (degree.) 

Ad extremum, L-, to the extreme. 

Adfinem, L-, to the end. 

Ad infinitum , L-. to infinity. 

Ad interim, L., in the meantime. 

A discretion, F., at discretion. 

Ad libitum, L-, at pleasure. 

Ad literam, L., (even) to the letter. 

Ad modum, L., after the manner of. 

Ad nauseum, L., to disgust. 

Ad referendum, L-, for reconsideration. 

Ad rem, L-, to the point. 

Ad unum omnes, L., every one. 

Ad valorem, L., according to value. 

Ad vitarn aut culpam, L., for life or for 
fault. 

ALquo animo, L.. with mind content. 
xEtatis suae. L., of his (or lien age. 

Affaire d' amour, F., a love affair. 

Affaire d'honneur, F., a duel. 

Affaire de coeur, F.. an affair of the heart. 
A fortiori, L., for stronger reason. 

A la campagne, F., as in the country. 

A la Francaise, F., after the French (man¬ 
ner.) 


A VAnglaise, F., after the English (man¬ 
ner. ) 

A la mode, F., after the fashion. 

Alere flamman, L., to feed the flame. 

Al fresco, It., in the open air. 

Alisvolat propriis, L., she flies with her 
own wings. (The motto of Oregon.) 
Allez vous en, F., begone. 

A lions, F., come. 

Alma mater, L-, benign mother. 

Alter ego, L., another self. 

Alter idem, L., another similar. 

Amende honorable, F., an apology. 

A mense et thoro, L., from bed and board. 
Amorpatnce, L., patriotism. 

Amourpropre, F., self-love. 

Ancien regime, F., the old rule. 

Anglice, L-, in English. 

Animis opibusqueparati, L., prepared with 
our lives and our money. (Motto of 
South Carolina.) 

A nno cetatis suce, L-, in the year of his (or 
her) age. 

Anno Christi , L-, in the j^ear of Christ. 
Anno Domini, L-, in the year of our 
Lord. 

A nno mundi, L., in the year of the world. 
Annus mirabilis, L-, the wonderful year. 
Ante bellum, L., before the war. 

Ante lucern, L., before the light. 

Ante meridiem, L-, before noon. 

A Voutrance, F., to the death. 

Apercu, F., sketch. 

Aplomb, F., firmly; perpendicularly. 

A posteriori , L-, reasoning from effect to 
cause. 

A priori, L., reasoning from cause to effect. 
A propos, F., to the point; by-the-bv. 

Aqua vitce, L., water of life; alcohol. 
Argumentum ad hominern, L-, an argu¬ 
ment to the man. 

Argumentum ad ignorantiam, L-, an argu¬ 
ment for the ignorant. 

Argumentum ad baculum, L-, an argument 
with a cudgel. 

Arri'ere pen see, F., an after-thought. 

Ars est celare artem, L., art is to conceal 
art. 


U. I.—7 





98 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Ars longa, vita brevis est, p., art is long, 
life is short. 

A sinus ad lyram, P., an ass with a harp; 
an absurclity. 

A teneris annis , P., from tender years. 

Audaces furtuna juvat, I*., fortune favors 
the bold. 

Ande supere, p., dare to be wise. 

Audi alteram partem , P., hear the other 
side. 

Au fait, F., expert. 

Au fond, F., at the bottom. 

Au pis alter, F., at the worst. 

Aura popularis, L.,the wind of public favor. 
Aurea mediocritas, p., the golden mean. 
Au reste, F., for the rest. 

Au revoir, F., till the next meeting. 
Aussitot dit, aussitot fait, F., no sooner said 
than done. 

Aut amat aut odit mulier, P., a woman 
either loves or hates. 

Aut Ccrsar aut melius, P., either Csesar or 
nobody. 

Auto da fe, Portuguese, an act of faith; 

burning a heretic. 

Auto de se, P., suicide. 

Au troisitme , F., on the third floor. 

Aut vincere aut mori, F., either to conquer 
or die. 

Aux armes , F., to arms. 

Avant-coureur, F., a forerunner. 
Avant-propos, F,, a preface. 

Avecpermission, F., with permission. 

A verbis ad verbera, p., from words to 
blows. 

A vinculo matrimonii, L., from the bond 
of marriage. 

A volonte, F., at pleasure. 

A votre sante, F., to your health. 

Bus bleu, F., a blue-stocking. 

Beau ideal, F., an ideal beauty. 

Beau monde, F., the fashionable world. 
Beaux espy its, F., men of wit. 

Beauxyeux, F., beautiful eyes. 

Bel esprit, F., a brilliant mind. 

Bete noire, F., a bugbear. 

Bien seance, F., politeness. 

Billet doux , F., a love-letter. 

Bis dat qui cito dat , p., he gives twice who 
gives quickly. 

BlasS, F., surfeited. 

Bon ami, F., good friend. 

Bonbon , F., candy. 

Bon gr6 mal gre, F., willing or unwilling. 
Bonhomie, F., good nature. 

Bonis avibus, P., with lucky omens. 

Bon jour, good day. 

Bonne, F., nurse. 

Bonne foi, F., good faith. 

Bon soir, F., good evening. 

Brevi manu, P., immediately. 

Brutum fulmen, p., harmless thunder. 

Cacoelhes loquendi, p., an itch for speak¬ 
ing. 

CacdeJies sen bench, P., an itch for writing. 
Ccetera desunt, F., the remainder wanting. 
CcEteris pan bus, p., other things being 
equal. 

Candida pax, p., white-robed peace. 

Caput, P., head. 


Caput mortuum, P., the dead body. 

Carpe diem, P., be merry to-day. 

Cassis tulissirna virtus, P., virtue is the 
safest shield. 

Casus belli, P., a cause for war. 

Catalogue raisonne, F., a topical catalogue. 

Causa sine qua non, P-, an indispensable 
condition. 

Cedant arma toga;, P., let arms yield to the 
gown. 

Ce n’est que le premier pas qui coute, F., the 
first step alone is difficult. 

C’est a dire, F., that is to say. 

Chacun a son gout, F., every man to his 
taste. 

Chef F., the head; the leading person or 
part. 

Chef de bataillon, F., a major. 

Chef de cuisine, F., head cook. 

Chef-d'oeuvre, F., a masterpiece. 

Chere amie, F., a dear friend; a mistress. 

Chevalier d'industrie , F., knight of in¬ 
dustry; one who lives by his wits. 

Chiaroscuro, It., distribution of light and 
shade in painting. 

Cicerone, It., a guide who explains curiosi¬ 
ties. 

Cicisbeo, It,, a male attendant on a mar¬ 
ried lady. 

Ci-devant, F., formerly; heretofore. 

Cogito, ergo sum, p., I think, therefore, I 
exist. 

Colubrem in sinu favere, P., to cherish a 
serpent in one’s bosom. 

Comme il faut, F., as it should be. 

Compagnon de voyage, F., a traveling com¬ 
panion. 

Compos mentis, P., sound of mind. 

Compte rendu, F., account rendered; report. 

Comte, F., count. 

Comtesse, F., countess. 

Con amore, P., with love or great pleasure, 
earnestly. 

Con comniodo, It., at a convenient rate. 

Conditio sine qua non, P., a necessary con¬ 
dition. 

Confrere, F., a brother of the same monas¬ 
tery; an associate. 

Conge d'elire, F., leave to elect. 

Conquiescat in pace, P., may he rest in 
peace. 

Conseil de famille, F., a family consulta¬ 
tion. 

Conseil d'etat, F., a counsel of state; a privy 
council. 

Contantia et virtute, P., by constancy and 
virtue. 

Consuetude pro lege servatur, p., custom is- 
observed as law. 

Contra bonos mores, P., against good mor¬ 
als or manners. 

Coram nobis, P., before us. 

Coram non judice, P., before one not the 
proper judge. 

Corps de garde, F., a body of men who- 
watch in a guard room; the guard-room 
itself. 

Corps diplomatique, F., a diplomatic body. 

, Corpus Christi, P., Christ’s body. 

Corpus delicti, P., the body, substance or 
foundation of the offence.' 

Corrigenda, P., corrections to be made.. 





LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


99 


Couleur de rose, F., rose-color; an aspect 
of beauty and attractiveness. 

Coup d’essai, F.. a first attempt. 

Coup d'Hat, F., a stroke of policy in state 
affairs. 

Coup de grace, F., the finishing stroke. 

Coup de main, F., a sudden attack; a bold 
effort. 

Coup d'ceil , F., a slight view; a glance. 

Coup de theatre, F., a theatrical effect; clap¬ 
trap. 

Conte qu'il coute , F., let it cost what it 
may. 

Credu I a res amor est, F., love is a credulous 
affair. 

Crescite et multiplica mini, F-, grow, or in¬ 
crease, and multiply. (The motto of 
Maryland.) 

Crimen Icescz majestatis, F-, the crime of 
high treason. 

Cuibonol F., for whose benefit is it? what 
good will it do? 

Cut de sac, F., the bottom of a bag; a place 
closed at one end. 

Cum grano salts, F., with a grain of salt; 
with some allowance. 

Cum privilegio, F., with privilege. 

Currente ca/amo, F., with a running or 
rapid pen. 

Custos rotulorum, F-, the keeper of the 
rolls. 

Da capo. It., from the beginning. 

D'accord, F., agreed; in tune. 

Damnant quod non intelligunt, F., they 
condemn what they do not understand. 

De bonne grace, F., wdth good grace; will¬ 
ingly. 

De die in diem, F., from day to day. 

De facto, F., from the fact; really. 

Degagi. F., easy and unconstrained. 

Dei gratia, F., by the grace of God. 

Dejeuner a la fourcliette, F., a meat break¬ 
fast. 

De jure, F., from the law; by right. 

De'lenda est Carthago , F., Carthage must 
be blotted out or destroyed. 

De mortuis nil nisi bonuin, F., let nothing 
but good be said of the dead. 

De nihilo nihil Jit, F-, of nothing, nothing 
is made. 

De novo, F., anew; over again from the be¬ 
ginning. 

Deogratias, F-, thanks to God. 

Deojuvante, F-, with God’s help. 

Deo', non fortuna, F-, from God, not from 
fortune. 

Deo volente, F., God willing; by God’s will; 
usually contracted into D. V. 

De profundis, F-, out of the depths. 

Dernier ressort, F., a last resource. 

De bonis non, F-, of the goods not adminis¬ 
tered on. 

Degustibus non est disputandum, F-, there 
is no disputing about tastes. 

Desagrement, F., something, disagreeable. 

Desideratum , F., a thing desired. 

Desunt ccztera, F., the other things are 
wanting; the remainder is wanting. 

De trap, F., too much, or too many; not 
wanted. 

Dies irce, F., the day of wrath. 


Dies non, F., in law, a day on which judges 
do not sit. 

Dieu defend le droit, F., God defends the 
right. 

Dieu et mon droit, F., God and my right. 

Dignus vindice nodus, F., a knot worthy to 
be untied by such an avenger, or by such 
hands. 

Diipenates, F , household gods. 

DU majores, F., the greater gods. 

DU minor es, F., the lesser gods. 

Dirigo, F., I direct or guide. (The motto 
of Maine.) 

Disjecta membra, F-, scattered limbs or re¬ 
mains. 

Distingue, F., distinguished; eminent. 

Distrait, F., absent in thought. 

Divertissement, F., amusement, sport. 

Divide et impera, F-, divide and rule. 

Dolce far niente. It., sweet doing-nothing; 
sweet idleness. 

Double entente, F., double meaning; a play 
on words; a word or phrase susceptible 
of more than one meaning. (Incorrectly 
written, double entendre.') 

Dramatis persons, F., the characters or 
persons represented in a drama. 

Droit des gens, F., the law of nations. 

Dulce domun, F., sweet home; homewards. 

Dulce est desipere in loco, F., it is pleasant 
to jest or be merry at the proper time. 

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, F-, it 
is sweet and becoming to die for one’s 
country. 

Dum spiro , spero, F., while I breathe, I 
hope. 

Dum vivimus, vivamus, F., while we live, 
let us live. 

Eau de Cologne, F., a perfumed liquid; 
Cologne water. 

Eau de vie, F., water of life; brandy. 

Ecce homo, F., behold the man. (Applied 
to a picture representing our Ford given 
up to the Jews by Pilate, and wearing a 
crown of thorns.) 

Editio princeps, F-, the first edition. 

Egalite, F., equality. 

Ego et rex meus, F., I and my king. 

Eldorado, Sp., the golden land. 

Emigrf F., an emigrant. 

Empressement, F., ardor; zeal. 

En arriire, F., in the rear; behind. 

En attendant, F., in the meanwhile. 

En avant, F., forward. 

En deshabille, F., in undress. 

En ichelon, F., in steps; like stairs. 

En famille, F., in a domestic state. 

Enfans perdus, F., lost children; in mil., 
the forlorn hope. 

En grande tenue, F., in full dress. 

En masse, F., in a body. 

En passant, F., in passing; by the way. 

En rapport , F., in relation; in connection. 

En r£gle, F., in order; according to rules. 

En route, F., on the way. 

Ense petit placidem sub libertate quietem, 
F., with the sword she seeks quiet peace 
under liberty. (The motto of Massachu¬ 
setts.) 

En suite, F., in company. 

Entente cordiale, F., evidence of good-will 





100 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION 


towards each other, exchanged by the 
chief persons of two states. 

Entourage , F., surroundings; adjuncts. 

En tout, F., in all; wholly. 

Entr&e , F., entrance; first course at meals; 
freedom of access. 

Entremets, F., dainties; small dishes. 

Entrepot, F., a warehouse, a place for de¬ 
positing goods. 

Entre nous, F., between ourselves. 

Entresol, F., a suite of apartments between 
the basement or ground floor and the 
second floor. 

En verite, F., in truth; verily, 

E pluribus unum , Iy., one composed of 
many. (The motto of the United States, 
as one government formed of many inde¬ 
pendent States. 

Errare est humanum, Iy., to err is hu¬ 
man. 

Esprit borne , F., a narrow, contracted 
mind. 

Esprit du corps, F., spirit of the body; fel¬ 
lowship; brotherhood. 

Esse quam videri , Iy., to be, rather than to 
seem. 

Esto perpetua, L., let it be perpetual; let it 
endure forever. 

Et ccetera , L., and the rest; etc. 

Et hoc genus omne , U., and everything of 
the kind. 

Et sequentes , Iy-, Et sequentia, Iy., and those 
that follow. 

Et sic de cceteris, L., and so of the rest. 

Et tu, Brute! L. and thou also, Brutus! 

Eureka , Gr., I have found it. (The motto 
of California.) 

Ex adverso, L., from the opposite side. 

Ex animo , Iy., with the soul; heartily. 

Ex capite, U., from the head; from mem¬ 
ory. 

Ex cathedra, I,., from the bench, chair or 
pulpit; with high authority. 

Excelsior , L., higher; more elevated. (The 
motto of New York.) 

Exceptioprobate regulam , I,., the exception 
proves the rule. 

Excerpta , I,., extracts. 

Ex concession I,., from what is conceded. 

Ex curia , Iy., out of court. 

Ex dono, U., by the gift. 

Exempli gratia , L., for example; for in¬ 
stance. 

Exeunt , L., they go out. 

Exeunt omnes, U., all go out. 

Exit , U., departure; a passage out; death. 

Exitus acta probat, L., the event justifies 
the deed. (Washington’s motto.) 

ivr necessitate rei , I,., from the necessity of 
the case. 

E.'.r nihilo nihil Jit , I,., out of nothing, noth¬ 
ing comes. 

Ex officio , Iy M by virtue of office. 

.Ehr parte, U., on one part or side only. 

ELr pede Herculum , 1.., we see a Hercules 
from the foot; we judge the whole from 
the specimen. 

Experimentuin cruris , L., the experiment 
of the cross; a decisive experiment; a 
most searching test. 

Experto crede, I,., trust one who has had 
experience. 



> >j 


Ex post facto , Iy., after the deed is done. 

Ex tempore , L., off-hand; without premedi¬ 
tation. 

Extra muros, L., beyond the walls. 

Ex uno disce omnes , r.., from one learn all; 
from one you can judge the whole. 

Ex usu , Iy., from or by use. 

Facetice , L,., witticisms; humorous pleas¬ 
antry. 

Facile princeps , L., evidently pre-eminent; 
the admitted chief. 

Facilis est descensus Averni, L., the descent 
to hell is easy; the road to evil is easy. 

Facsimile , L., an exact copy; a likeness. 

Fait accompli, F., a thing already accom¬ 
plished. 

Fas est et ab hoste doceri, L., 'it is w r ell to 
learn even from an enemy. 

Fata Morgana , It., a meteoric phenome¬ 
non nearly allied to the mirage. 

Fata obstant , U., the Fates oppose it. 

Fauteuil , F., an easy chair. 

Faux pas, F., a false step; a mistake. 

Fecit, Iy., he made it; put after an artist’s 
name. 

Felicitas multos habet amicos , L., prosper¬ 
ity has many friends. 

Feliciter, U-, happily; successfully. 

Felo de se, L-, a-self-murderer; one who 
commits felom- by suicide. 

Femme couverte, F., a woman covered or 
sheltered; a married woman. 

Femme de chambre, F., a woman of the 
chamber; a chamber maid. 

Femme sole , F., a single woman; an un¬ 
married woman. 

Ferce natures, U., of a wild nature—said of 
wild beasts. 

Festina lente, L., hasten slowly. 

Fate Champthe F., a rural festival. 

Fete Dieu, F., the Corpus Christi festival 
of the Roman Catholic Church. 

Feu de joie , F., a bonfire; a discharge of 
fire-arms on joyful occasions. 

Fiat justitia ruat caelum, L-, let justice be 
done, though the heavens should fall. 

Fidei defensor, L., defender of the faith. 

Eides Punica, L,.. Punic faith; treachery. 

Fidus Achates, L., faithful Achates, a true 
friend. 

Fille de chambre, F., a girl of the chamber; 
a chamber-maid. 

Finem respice, L., look to the end. 

Fit fabricando faber, I Y .. a workman is 
made by working; practice makes per¬ 
fect. 

Flagrante delicto, U., in the commission of 
crime. 

Fortiter in re, L., with firmness in acting. 

Fortuna favet fortibus , F., fortune favors 
the brave. 

Fronti nulla fides, U., no faith in appear¬ 
ance; there is no trusting to appearances 

Fuit Ilium, Iy., Troy has been. 

Fulmen brutum, U., a harmless thunder¬ 
bolt. 

Functus officio, Iy., having discharged his 
office. 

Furor loquendi, Iy., a rage for speaking. 

Furor poeticus, poetic fire. 

Furor sen ben di, Iy., a rage for writing. 




LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


101 


Garde du corps , F., a body-guard. 

Garde mobile, F., a guard” liable for general 
service. 

Gardez bien , F., guard well; take care. 

Genius loci , L., genius of the place. 

Gens d’armes, F., armed police. 

Gens de lettres , F.', literary people. 

Gens de mime famille, F., birds of a feather 

Gentilhomme, F., a gentleman. 

Germanice, I y ., in German. 

Gloria in excelsis, L., glory to God in the 
highest. 

Gloria Patri, L., glory to the Father. 

Gradus ad Parnassian, L., a step to Par¬ 
nassus, a mountain sacred to Apollo and 
the Muses; a book containing aids in 
writing Greek or Latin poetry. 

Grande Parure, F., full dress. 

Gratis dictum, L., mere assertion. 

Guerre a V outrance, L-, war to the utter¬ 
most. 

Hand passibus cequis, L-, not with equal 
steps. 

Hautgout, F., fine or elegant taste; high 
flavor or relish. 

Hie et ubique, L., here and everywhere. 

Hie jacet, L-, here lies. 

Hie labor, hoc opus esl, L., this is labor, 
this is work. 

Hie sepultus, L., here buried. 

Hinc ilia: lacrimce, L., hence proceed these 
tears. 

Historiette, F., a little or short history; a 
tale. 

Hoi polloi, Gr., the many; the rabble. 

Hombre de un libro, Sp., a man of one 
book. 

Homme d' esprit, L., a man of talent; a witty 
man. 

Honi soit qui maty pense , F., evil be to him 
who evil thinks. 

Honorarium , L-, a fee -laid to a profes¬ 
sional man. 

Horn bile dictu, L-. terrible to be said. 

Hors de combat, F., out of condition to 
fight. 

Hortus siccus, L., collection of dried plants. 

Hotel de ville, F., a town hall. 

Hotel des Invalides, L., the military hospi¬ 
tal in Paris. 

Humanum est errare, L., to err is human. 

Ich dien, Ger., I serve. 

Id est, L., that is, abbreviated to i.e. 

Imitatores servum pecus, L-, imitators; a 
servile herd. 

Imperium in imperio, L., a government 
within a government. 

In ccternum, L-, forever. 

Inarmis , L-, under arms. 

In articulo mortis, L., at the point of death. 

Index expurgatorius, L., a list of prohib¬ 
ited books. 

In esse, L., in being. 

In extenso , L-, at full length. 

In extremis , L-, at the point of death. 

In flagrante delictu, L., taken in the act. 

In forma pauperis, L-, in the form of a poor 
person. 

In foro conscientice , L-, before the tribunal 
of conscience. 


Infra dignitatem, L-, below one’s dignity. 
In hoc signo vinces, L.. under this sign, or 
standard, thou shalt conquer. 

In hoc statu , L.. in this state or condition. 
In limine , L-, at the threshold. 

In loco , L-, in the place. 

In loco parentis , L,, in the place of a parent 
In medias res , in the midst of things. 

In mentor iam, L. ,to the memory of; in 
memory. 

In nomine , L., in the name of. 

In nubibus, L-, in the clouds. 

In pace , L-, in peace. 

In perpetuum , L-, forever. 

In petto , L-, within the breast; in reserve. 
In pleno, L,., in full. 

In posse, L-, in possible existence; that may 
be possible. 

In preesenti, L-, at the present time. 

In propria persona, L-, in one’s own person 
In puris naturalibus, L-, in naked nature; 
quite naked. 

In re, L-, in the matter of. 

In rent, L., against the thing or property. 
In rerum natura, L-, in the nature of 
things. 

In situ , L-, in its original situation. 
Insouciance, F., indifference; carelessness. 
In statu quo, L-, in the former state. 

Inter alia, L-, among other things. 

Inter nos, L-, between ourselves. 

Inter pocula, L-, between drinks. 

In terrorem, L., as a warning. 

Inter se, L-, among themselves. 

In tot idem verbis, L-, in so many words. 

In toto, L., in the whole; entirely. 

Intra muros, L-, within the walls. 

In transitu, L-. on the passage; during the 
conveyance. 

In vacuo, L-, in empty space; free, or 
nearly free, from air. 

In vino veritas, L., there is truth in wine. 
Invita Minerva:, L-, against the will of Mi¬ 
nerva. 

Ipse dixit, L-, he himself said it; dogma¬ 
tism. 

Ipsissima verba, L., the very words. 
Ipsissimis verbis, L-, in the very words. 

Ipso facto, L., in the fact itself. 

Ira furor brevis est, L-, anger is a short 
madness. 

Jacta estalea, L., the die is cast. 

Je ne sais quoi, F., I know not what. 

Jet d'eau, F., a jet of water. 

Jeu de mots, F., a play on words; a pun. 

Jeu d'esprit, F., a play of spirit; a witti¬ 
cism. 

Jubilate Deo, L., be joyful in the Lord. 
Judicium Dei, L-, the judgment of God. 
Jupiter tonans, L., Jupiter the thunderer. 
Jure divino, L,. by divine law. 

Jure humano, L-, by human law. 

Jus canonicum, L., canon law. 

Jus civile, L-, civil law. 

Jus divinum, L-, divine law. 

Jus gentium, L-, the law of nations. 

Juste milieu, F., the golden mean. 

Lahore et honore, L., by labor and honor. 
Labor ipse voluptas, L., labor itself is a 
pleasure. 




102 


MANUAL OF USEFUL IN FORM A TION. 


Labor omnia vincit, F., labor conquers 
everything-. 

La fame non vuol leggi. It., hunger obeys 
no laws. 

Laissez faire, F., let alone; suffer to have 
its own way. 

Lapsus calami, F-, a slip of the pen. 

Lapsus lingucc , F-, a slip of the tongue. 

Lapsus memories, F-, a slip of the memory. 

Lares et penates, I,., domestic and house¬ 
hold gods. 

Latet anguis in herba, F-, a snake lies hid 
in the grass. 

Laudaria viro laudato, I,., to be praised by 
a man who is himself praised. 

L’avenir, F., the future. 

Laus Deo, F-, praise to God. 

beau monde, F., the fashionable world, 
fora temps viendra,V., the good time will 
come. 

Le grand tnonarque,V., the great monarch 
—applied to Fouis XIV. of France. 

Le pas, F., precedence in place or rank. 

Le roi le veut, F., the king wills it. 

Lese-majeste, F., high treason. 

L'Hoile du nord, F., the star of the north— 
the motto of Minnesota. 

Le tout ensemble, F., all together. 

Lettre de cachet, F., a sealed letter; a royal 
warrant. 

Lettre de marque, F., a letter of marque or 
reprisal. 

Lex non scripta, F-, the unwritten law. 

Lex scripta, F-, the written law; the statute 
law. 

Lex talionis, F-, the law of retaliation. 

Liberum arbitrium, F., free will. 

Limes labor, F., the labor of the file; the 
slow polishing of a literary composition. 

Lis sub judice, F., a case not yet decided. 

Lite pendente, F-, the law-suit hanging; 
during the trial. 

Liter a scripta manet, F-, the written letter 
remains. 

Loci communes, F-, common places. 

Locosy ninos dicen la verdad, Sp., children 
and fools speak the truth. 

Locum tenens, F-, one holding the place; a 
deputy or substitute. 

Locus standi, F., a place for standing; a 
right to interfere. 

Locus penitenties, F-, place for repentance. 

Lusus natures, F-, a sport or freak of nat¬ 
ure. 

AT a chkre, F., my dear—fern. 

Mafoi, F., upon my faith. 

Magna est veritas et prevalebit, F., truth is 
great and it will prevail. 

Magnum bonum, F-, a great good. 

Magnum opus, F.. a great work. 

Maintien, F., deportment; carriage. 

Maison de sante, F., a private hospital. 

Maitre d’hotel, F., a house-steward. 

Maladie du Pays, F., home sickness. 

Mala fide, F-, with bad faith; treacherously 

Mai a propos, F., ill-timed. 

Male parta male dilabuntur, F-, things ill 
gotten, are ill spent. 

Malgre nous, F., in spite of us. 

Manibus pedibusque, F-, with hands and 
feet. 


Malum in se, F-, bad in itself. 

Manu propria, F-, with one’s own hand. 

Mardi Gras, F., Shrove Tuesday. 

Mater familias, F., the mother of a family. 

Mauvaise honie, F., false shame. 

Mauvais sujet, F., a bad subject; a worth¬ 
less fellow. 

Maximus in minimis, F-, very great in 
trifling things. 

Medio tutissimus ibis, F-, you will go most 
safely in a middle course. 

Mega biblion, mega kakon, Gr., a great 
book is a great evil. 

Me judice, F., I being judge; in my opinion 

Memento mori, F., remember death. 

Mens sana in corpore sano, F., a sound 
mind in a sound body. 

Mens sibiconscia recti, F-, a mind conscious 
of rectitude. 

Mens agitat molem, F-, mind moves matter 

Menu, F., a bill of fare. 

Mesalliance, F., improper association, mar¬ 
riage with one of lo-wer station. 

Meum et tuum, F., mine and thine. 

Mirabile dictu, F., wonderful to be told. 

Alirabile visu, F., wonderful to be seen. 

Mise en scPne, F., the getting up for the 
stage, or the putting in preparation for it 

Modus operandi, F-, the manner of opera¬ 
tion. 

Mollia tempora fandi, F-, times favorable 
for speaking. 

Mon ami, F., my friend. 

Mon cher, F., my dear—masc. 

Montanisemper liberi, F., mountaineers are 
always freemen—the motto of West Vir¬ 
ginia. 

More majorum, F-, after the manner of our 
ancestors. 

More suo, F., in his own way. 

Motu proprio, F., of his own accord. 

Multum in parvo, F-, much in little. 

Mundus vult decipi, F., the world wishes to 
be deceived. 

Mutatis mutandis,L,-,the necessary changes 
being made. 

Natale solum, F., natal soil. 

Necessitas non habet legem, F-, necessity 
has no law. 

Nee, F., born, family or maiden name. 

Ne exeat , F.. let him not depart. 

Ne fronti crede, F., trust not to appear¬ 
ance. 

Nemine contradicente, F., without opposi¬ 
tion. 

Nemine dissentiente, F-, no one dissenting; 
without opposition. 

Nemo me impune lacessit, F., no one pro¬ 
vokes me with impunity—the motto ot 
Scotland. 

Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit, F., 
no one is wise at all times. 

Nemo repente fuit turpissimus, F., no man 
becomes a scoundrel at once. 

Ne plus ultra, F., nothing further. 

Nequid detrimenti respublica capiat, F., lest 
the republic should receive harm. 

Ne sutor ultra crepidatn, F., let the shoe¬ 
maker stick to his last. 

Nil admirari, F-, to wonder at nothing. 

Nil desperandum, L., never despair. 




LANGUAGE-. ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


103 


N'importe , F., never mind. 

Nisidominus frustra, unless the Ford helps 
nothing is gained. 

Nisi prius, F., unless previously. 

Nitor in adversum , F., I strive against op¬ 
position. 

Noblesse oblige , K., nobility obliges; nobles 
must act nobly. 

Nolens volens, F-. willy-nilly. 

Neli me tangere, F., don’t touch me; hands 
off. 

Nolle prosequi , F., to abandon prosecution. 

Nolo episcopari , F., I am unwilling to be a 
Bishop. 

Nom de guerre, F., a war name; an as¬ 
sumed name. 

Nom de plume , F., a pen name; name as¬ 
sumed by an author. 

Non compos mentis , F., not in one’s right 
mind. 

Non constat , F., it does not appear. 

Non est inventus, F., he has not been found 

Non multa, rnultum , F., not many 

things, but much. 

Abzz zzodzs solum, F-, not for ourselves 
alone. 

Aim mzz' ricordo, It., I do not remember. 

Noscitur a sociis., F-, he is known by his 
companions. 

A’oto fezz^, F., mark well. 

A'ous avons change tout cela, F., we have 
changed all that. 

Nous verrons, F., we shall see. 

Nonquam non paratus , L., never unpre¬ 
pared. 

Oderint dum meturant , F-, let them hate, 
provided they fear. 

Odi profanum, F., I hate the vulgar. 

Odium theologicum, F., theological hatred. 

6>//a podrida , Sp., a mixture. 

Omne ignotumpro magnifico , F..everything 
unknown is thought magnificent. 

Omnia vincit amor, F-, love conquers all 
things. 

6>zz rfzV, F., they say; people say. 

Onus probandi, F., the burden of proof. 

Oza pro nobis, F-, pray for us. 

C> temporal O mores! F-, oh, the times! oh, 
the manners! 

Otium cum dignitate , F., ease with dig¬ 
nity. 

Outre , F., extravagant; extreme. 

Palmam qui meruit ferat , F., who merits 
bears the prize. 

Par excellence , F., by way of eminence; in 
the highest degree. 

Par hasard , F., by chance. 

Pari passu, F-, with equal step. 

Parvenu, F., an upstart; a rich “snob.” 

Pater familias, F., the father of a family. 

Pater patriae, F., the father of his country. 

Pax vobiscum, F., peace be with you. 

Peccavi, F., I have sinned. 

Pendente lite, F-, while the suit is pending. 

Per annum, F-, by the year. 

Per capita, F., by the head; on each person. 

Per contra, F-, on the other hand. 

Per diem, F., by the day; everyday. 

Periculum in mora, F-, danger in delay. 

Per se, F., by itself. 


Personnel, F., the staff; persons in any serv¬ 
ice. 

Petitio principri, F., begging the question. 
Petite , F., small; little—fern. 

Piece de resistance, F., a joint of meat. 
Pinxit, F-, he (or she) painted it. 

Pis alter, F., a last expedient. 

Plebs, F-, common people. 

Poeta nascitur, non fit, F., a poet is born 
not made. 

Point d'appui, F., point of support. 

Populus vult decipi , F-, the populace wish 
to be deceived. 

Posse commitatus , F., the power of the 
country; the force that may be sum¬ 
moned by the sheriff. 

Paste restante, F., to be left till called for. 
Post meridiem, F-, afternoon. 

Post mortem, F., after death. 

Post obitum, F., after death. 

Pourparler, F., a consultation. 

Pour prendre conge, F., to take leave. 
Precieuse, F., a blue stocking; a conceited 
woman. 

Preux chevalier, F., a gallant gentleman. 
P ima donna, It., the first lady; the princi¬ 
pal female singer in Italian opera. 

Prima facie , F., on the first face; at first 
sight. 

Primus inter pares, F-, first among his 
peers. 

Pro bono publico, F-, for the public good. 
Proces verbal, F., verbal process; the tak¬ 
ing of testimony in writing. 

Proet con, F., for and against. 

Pro forma, F-, for the sake of form. 

Pro patria, F., for one’s country. 

Pro tempore, F., for the time. 

Punica fides, F-, Punic faith, i.e., treachery 

Quantum sufilcit, F-, as much as is suffi¬ 
cient. 

Quelque chose, F., something. 

Quid nunc, F-, what now; a gossip. 

Quid pro quo, F., an equivalent. 

Qui vive, F., who goes there? 

Quod erat demonstrandum, F., which was 
to be demonstrated. 

Quondam, F-, at one time; once. 

Rara avis, F., a rare bird. 

Rechauffe, F., warmed over; stale. 
Recherche, F., choice; elegant. 

Redacteur, F., an editor. 

Redivivus, F., restored to life. 

Reductio ad absurdum, F-, reduction to an 
absurdity. 

Rentes, F., public funds; national securities 
Requiescat in pace, F-, may he (or she) rest 
in peace. 

Res angusta domi, F., the narrow things 
at home; poverty. 

Res gestcz, F-, things done. 

Resurgam, F., I shall rise again. 

Revenons a nos moutons, F., let us return 
to our sheep; come back to the subject. 
Robe de chambre, F., a dressing gown. 
Roue, F., a rake. 

Rouge et noir, F., red and black; a game. 

Sanctum sanctorum, L., the holy of holies. 
Sang froid , F., cold blood; self possession. 



104 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Sans culottes , F., without breeches; red re¬ 
publicans. 

Sartor resartus, k., the tailor patched. 
Sauve qui pent. F., save himself who can. 
Savoir faire, F., knowing how to do things 
Savoir vivre, F., knowledge of the world. 
Semper idem , k., always the same. 

Semper paratus. L.. always prepared. 
Sequitur, k., it follows. 

Seriatim, k-, in order. 

Sicitur adastra, L., thus the road to im¬ 
mortality. 

Sic semper tyrannis, k., thus always with 
tyrants. 

Sic transit gloria mundi, L., so passes the 
glory of the world. 

Sic volo, sic jubeo, k., thus I will; thus I 
command. 

Similia similibus curantur, k., like things 
are cured by like. 

Similis simili gaudct, k-, like is pleased 
with like. 

Si monumentum quceris. circumspice, L., if 
you seek his monument, look around. 
Sine die , L., without a day appointed. 

Sine qua non, k M an indispensable condi¬ 
tion. 

Siste viator, k., stop, traveler. 

Si vis pacem, para bellum, k., if you -wish 
peace, prepare for war. 

Soi-disant , F., self-styled. 

Spero meliora , L., I hope for better things. 
Spirituel, L., intellectual; witty. 

Spolia opima , k., in ancient Rome , the spoils 
of a vanquished general taken by the vic¬ 
torious general;a rich booty. 

Sponte sua , k., of one’s own accord. 

Statu quo ante bellum , k., in the state which 
was before the war. 

Status quo, k., the state in which. 

Stet, k., let it stand. 

Suaviter in modo, foriiter in re, k., gentle 
in manners, brave in deed. 

Sub judice, k., under consideration. 

Sub poena, k., under a penalty. 

Sub rosa , k., privately. 

Sub silentio, k., in silence or stillness. 

Sui generis, k., of its own kind. 

Summum bonum, k., the chief good. 
Summum jus, sutnma injuria, k., the rigor 
of the law is the heigh t of oppression. 
Surgit atnari aliquid, k., something bitter 
arises. 

Suum cuique, k., let each have his own. 

Tableau vivant, F., the representation of 
some scene by groups of persons. 

Tabula rasa, k-, a smooth or blank tablet. 
Tcedium vitae, k., weariness of life. 

Tant pis, F., so much the worse. 

Te Deum, k., a hymn of thanksgiving. 
Tempora mutantur, et nos mutanur in 
illis, k., the times are changed and we 
are changed with them. 

Tempus fugit, k., time flies. 

Terminus ad quern, k., the time to which. 
Terminus a quo, k., the time from which. 
Terra firma , k., solid earth. 

Terra incognita, k., an unknown country. 
Tertium quid , k., a third something. 
Tete-a-tbte, F., head to head; a private con¬ 
versation. 


Toga virilis, k., the gown of manhood. 

Tokalon, Gr., the beautiful; the chief good 

Totidem verbis, k-, in just so many words. 

Tolies quoties, k., as many as. 

Toto ccelo, k.. by the whole heavens; di¬ 
ametrically opposite. 

Ton jours pret, F., alwavs ready. 

Tour deforce , F., a feat of strength or 
skill. 

Tout-a-fait, F., entirely; wholly. 

Tout ensemble, F., the whole taken together 

Troja fuit. k., Troy was. 

Trottoir . F., a sidewalk. 

Tu quoque, Brute! k., and thou, too, Bru¬ 
tus. 

Tutor etultor, k., protector and avenger. 

Tuum est, k., it is your own. 

Ubimel , ibi apes, k., where honey is, there 
are bees. 

Ultima ratio regum, k., the last argument 
of kings; war. 

Ultima Thule, k., the utmost boundary or 
limit. 

Un bien fait n'est jamais perdu, F., a kind¬ 
ness is never lost. 

Un fait accompli, k., an accomplished fact. 

Unguibus et rostro, k-, with claw's and 
beak. 

Usque ad nauseam , k., to disgust. 

Usus loquendi, k., usage in speaking. 

Utile dulci, k., the useful with the pleasant. 

Ut infra, k., as below. 

Uti possidetis, k., as you possess; state of 
present possession. 

Ut supra, k., as above. 

Vade mecum, k., go with me. 

Vale, k., farewell. 

Valet de chambre, F., an attendant; a foot¬ 
man. 

Varies lectiones, k., various readings. 

Variorum notes, k., the notes of various 
authors. 

Veni, vidi, vici, k., I came, I saw, I con¬ 
quered. 

Vera progratiis, k-, truth before favor. 

Verbatim et literatim, k., word for word 
and letter for letter. 

Verbum sat sapienti, k., a word is enough 
for a wise man. 

Veritas prevalebit, k., the truth will pre¬ 
vail. 

Veritas vincit, k., truth conquers. 

] / estigia, k., tracks; vestiges. 

Vestigia nulla retrorsum, k., no footsteps 
backward. 

Vexata quesstio, k., a disputed question. 

Vice, k., in the place of. 

Vice versa, k., the terms being exchanged. 

Videlicet, k., to wit; namely. 

Vide ut supra, k., see what is stated above. 

Vi et drmis, k-, by force and by arms; by 
main force. 

Vincit qui se vincit , k., he conquers who 
overcomes himself. 

Vinculum matrimonii, k., the bond of mar¬ 
riage. 

Virtus laudatur , et alget, k., virtue is 
praised, and is not cherished (is starved.) 

Virtus semper viridis, virtue is ever green 
and blooming. 






LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


10 -> 


Vis inertia?, L., the power of inertia; resist¬ 
ance. 

Vi vat regina! L., long live the queen! 

Vivat rex! L., long live the king. 

Viva voce , L,., by the living voice; by oral 
testimony. 

Vivat respiiblica! L., long live the republic! 

Vive la republique! F., long live the repub¬ 
lic! 

Vive Vempereur! F., long live the emperor! 

Vive le roi! F\, long live the king! 

Voila, F., behold; there is or there are. 


Volens et potens, L,., able and willing; motto 
of Nevada. 

Volentc Deo , L,., God willing. 

Volenti non fit injuria , L., no injustice is 
done to the consenting persons. 

Vox et prcetera nihil , L., a voice and noth¬ 
ing more; sound without sense. 

Vox populi, vox Dei, L., the voice of the 
people is the voice of God. 

Vulgo , L., commonly. 

Vultus est index animi L.,the face is the 
index of the mind. 


A HANDFUL OF USEFUL ABBREVIATIONS. 

Abbreviations are devices used in writing and printing to save time 
and space, consisting usually of curtailments effected in words and syl¬ 
lables by the removal of some letters, often of the whole of the letters ex¬ 
cept the first. The following is a list of the more important: 


A.B., artium baccalaureus, bachelor of arts; 
able seaman. 

Abp. archbishop. 

A.C., ante Christum, before Christ. 

Ac., acre. 

Acc., Ac.; or Acct., account. 

A.D., anno Dominion the year of our Ford; 
used also as equivalent to “after Christ,” 
or “of the Christian era.” 

A.D.C., aide-de-camp. 

A^t. or Aitat., cctatis (anno), in the year of 
his age. 

A.H., anno Hejira?, in the year of the 
Hegira. 

A.M., ante meridiem; forenoon; anno 
mundi , in the year of the world; artium 
magister, master of arts. 

Anon., anonymous. 

A.R.A., associate of Royal Academy (Lon¬ 
don). 

A.R.S.A., associate of the Royal Scottish 
Academy. 

A.U.C., ab urb'e condita, from the building 
of Rome (753 B-C.) 

A. V., authorized version. 

B. A., bachelor of arts. 

Bart., or Bt., baronet. 

B.C., before Christ. 

B.C.L.. bachelor of civil law. 

B.D., bachelor of divinity. 

B.L., bachelor of laws. 

B.M., bachelor of medicine. 

Bp., bishop. 

B.S., bachelor of surgery. 

B.Sc., bachelor of science. 

B. V., Blessed Virgin. 

C. , cap., or chap., chapter. 

C.A., chartered accountant. 

Cantab., Cantabrigiensis ofCambridge. 

Cantuar., Cantuariensis of Canterbury. 

C.B., companion of the Bath. 

C.D.V., carte de visite. 

C.E., civil engineer. 

Cf., confer, compare. 

C.I., order of the Crown of India. 

C.I.E., companion of the Indian Empire. 

C.J., chief-justice. 

C.M., chirurgice magister , master in sur¬ 
gery; common metre. 

C.M.G., companion of the order of St. 
Michael and St. George. 


Co., company or county. 

C.O.D., cash on delivery. 

Cr., creditor. 

Crim., con., criminal conversation. 

C.S., civil service, clerk to the signet. 

C. S.I., companion of the Star of India. 

Ct., Connecticut. 

Curt., current, the present month. 

Cwt., hundredweight. 

d. , denarius , penny or pence. 

D. C., district of Columbia. 

D.C.L., doctor of civil law. 

D.D., doctor of divinity. 

Del., delineavit , drew it. 

D.F., defender of the faith. 

D.G., Dei gratia, by the grace of God. 

D.L., deputy lieutenants. 

D.Lit., doctor of literature. 

Do., ditto , the same. 

D.O.M., Deo Optimo Maximo , to God, the 
best and greatest. 

Dr., doctor, also debtor. 

D.Sc., doctor of science. 

D. V., Deo volente , God willing. 

Dwt., pennyweight. 

E. , east. 

Ebor., Eboracensis, of York. 

E.C., established church. 

E.E., errors excepted. 

e. g., exempli gratia, for example. 

E. I., East Indies. 

Etc., or &c., et cetera, and the rest. 

Exr., executor. 

F. , or Fahr., Fahrenheit’s thermometer. 

F.A.S., fellow of the Antiquarian Society. 

F.C., Free Church. 

F.D .,fidei defensor, defender of the faith. 
Fee ., fecit, he made or did it. 

F.G.S., fellow of the Geological Society. 
F.H.S., fellow of the Horticultural Society. 
FI., flourished. 

Fla., Florida. 

F.L.S., fellow of the Linnaean Society. 

F. M., field marshal. 

F.O.B., free on board (goods delivered.) 
F.R.A.S., fellow of the Royal Astronomical 
(or Asiatic) Society. 

F.R.C.P., fellow of the Royal College of 
Physicians. 

F.R.C.S., fellow of the Royal College of 
Surgeons. 





106 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


F.R.G.S.,fellow of the Royal Geographical 
Society. 

F.R.S., fellow of the Royal Society. 

F.R.S.E., fellow of the Royal Society of 
Edinburgh. 

F.S. A., fellow of the Society of Arts or Anti¬ 
quaries. 

F.S.S., fellow of the Statistical Society. 

Ft., foot or feet. 

F. Z.S., fellow of the Zoological Society. 

Ga., Georgia. 

Gal., gallon. 

G. C.B., grand cross of the Bath. 

G.C.M.G., grand cross of St. Michael and 

St. George. 

G.C.S.I., grand commander of the Star of 
India. 

G. P.O., general postoffice. 

H. B.M., his or her Britannic majesty. 

H.E.I.C.S., honorable East India Com¬ 
pany’s service. 

Hhd., hogshead. 

H.I.H., his or her imperial highness. 

H.M.S., his or her majesty’s ship. 

Hon., honorable. 

H.R., house of representatives. 

H.R., his (her) royal highness. 

H. S.H., his (her) serene highness. 

l a. , Iowa. 

l b. , or Ibid., ibidem , in the same place. 

Id., idem , the same. 

i. e., id esi,, that is. 

-j-I.H.S., Jesus hominum salvator , Jesus 
the Saviour of men; originally it was IH2, 
the first three letters of IH20Y2 ( lesous ), 
Jesus. 

Incog., incognito, unknown. 

Inf., infra , below. 

I. N.R.I., IesusNazarenus Rex Iudesorum , 
Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. 

Inst., instant, or of this month; institute. 

I. O.U., I owe you. 

i.q., idem quod , the same as. 

J. P., justice of the peace. 

Jr., junior. 

J. U.D ., juris utriusque doctor , doctor both 
of the civil and the canon law. 

K. C.B., knight commander of the Bath. 

K.C.M.G., knight commander of St. Mich¬ 
ael and St. George. 

K.C.S.I., knight commander of the Star of 
India. 

K.G., knight of the Garter. 

K.G.C.B., knight grand cross of the Bath. 
K.P., knight of St. Patrick. 

K.T., knight of the Thistle. 

Kt., or Knt., knight. 

Ky., Kentucky. 

E., 1., or £, pound sterling. 

E.A., literate in arts. 

Eat., latitude. 

Eb., or ft>., libra , a pound (weight). 

E.C.J., lord chief-justice. 

Edp., lordship. 

E.D.S., licentiate in dental surgery. 

Eit., D., doctor of literature. 

E E., Eow Latin. 

E L.A., lady literate in arts. 

EE-B., legum baccalaureus , bachelor of 
laws. 

EL D., legum doctor , doctor of laws (that is 
the civil and the canon laws). 


EE.M., master of laws. 

Lon., or Long., longitude. 

L.R.C.P., licentiate Royal College of Phy¬ 
sicians. 

L. R.C.S., licentiate of the Royal College of 
Surgeons. 

E.S.A., licentiate of the Society of Apothe¬ 
caries. 

L S.D., libra’, solidi , denarii , pounds, shil¬ 
lings, pence. 

M. A., master of arts. 

Mass., Massachusetts. 

M.B., medicines baccalaureus. bachelor of 
medicine. 

M.C., member of congress; master in sur- 
gery. 

M.D., medicines doctor , doctor of medicine. 
Md., Maryland. 

Me., Maine. 

M.E., mining engineer; Methodist Episco¬ 
pal. 

Messrs., messieurs, gentlemen. 

M F.H., master of fox hounds. 

M.I.C.E., member of the Institute of Civil 
Engineers. 

Mile., mademoiselle. 

Mine., madame. 

Mo., Missouri. 

M.P., member of Parliament. 

M.R.C.S., member of the Royal College of 
Surgeons. 

M.R.C.V.S., member of the Royal College of 
Veterinary Surgeons. 

M. R.I.A., member of the Royal Irish 
Academy. 

MS., manuscript; MSS., manuscripts. 

Mus. D., musices doctor , doctor of music. 

N. , north. 

N.B., nota bene, take notice; also North 
Britain, New Brunswick. 

N.C., North Carolina. 

N.D., no date. 

Nem. con., nemine contradicente , no one 
contradicting, unanimously. 

N.H., New Hampshire. 

N.J., New Jersey. 

No., numero, number. 

N.P., notary public. 

N.S., new style, Nova Scotia. 

N.S.W., New South Wales. 

N.T., New Testament. 

N.Y., New York. 

N. Z., New Zealand. 

O. , Ohio. 

Ob., obiit, died. 

O.S., old style. 

O. T., Old Testament. 

Oxon., Oxoniensis, of Oxford. 

Oz., ounce or ounces. 

Pa., Pennsylvania. 

P. C., privy-councillor. 

P.E., Protestant Episcopal. 

Per cent, per centum by the hundred. 
Ph.D., philosophies doctor , doctor of philos¬ 
ophy. 

Pinx., pinxit , painted it. 

P.M., post meridiem, afternoon. 

P.O., post-office. 

P.O.O., post-office order. 

P.P., parish priest. 

Pp., pages. 

P.P.C., pour prendre conge, to take leave. 




LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE. 


107 


Prox., proximo (tnense ), next month, 

P. S., posteript. 

Q , question; queen. 

Q. C., queen’s council. 

Q-E.D., quod erat demonstrandum , which 
was to be demonstrated. 

Q.E.F., quod erat faciendum, which was to 
be done. 

Qu., query. 

Quant, suff., quantum sujficit , as much as 
is needful. 

Q. V., quod vide , which see. 

R. , rex regina, king, queen. 

R.A., royal academician; royal artillery. 

R.A.M., Royal Academy of Music. 

R.C., Roman Catholic. 

R.E., royal engineers. 

Rev., reverend. 

R.H.A., Royal Hibernian Academician. 
R.I., Rhode Island. 

R.I.P., requiescat in pace , may he rest in 
peace. 

R.M., royal marine. 

R.N., royal navy. 

R.S.A., royal Scottish academician. 
R.S.V.P., repondez, s'il vous plait , reply, if 
you please. 

Rt., Hon., right honorable. 

Rt.. Wpful., right worshipful. 

R. V., revised version. 

S. , south. 

S.. or St., saint. 

S.C., South Carolina. 


| Sc., scilicet, namely, viz. 

S.J., Society of Jesus. (Jesuits). 

S.P.C.K., Society for promoting Christian 
Knowledge. 

S.P.Q.R., senatus populusque Romanics , the 
senate and people of Rome. 

S.S.C., solicitor before the supreme courts. 
St., saint, street. 

S.T.D., sacrce theologice doctor, doctor of 
divinity. 

S. T.P., sacrce theologice professor , professor 
of divinity. 

T. C.D., Trinity College, Dublin. 

Ult., ultimo, last. 

U. P., United Presbyterian. 

U.S., United States. 

U.S.A., United States of America. 

U. S.N., United States navy. 

V. , vide, see; also versus, against. 

Va., Virginia. 

V.C., Victoria Cross. 

Viz., videlicet, to wit or namely. 

V.P., vice-president. 

V. S., veterinary surgeon. 

Vt., Vermont. 

W. , west. 

W.I., West Indies. 

W.S., writer to the signet. 

Xmas, Christmas. 

In EE.D., EE.B., &c., the letter is doubled, 
according to the Roman 'system, to show 
that the abbreviation represents a plural 
noun. 


STRAY HINTS FOR WRITERS. 

That writer does the most who gives his reader the most knowledge 
and takes from him the least time. Sidney Smith once remarked, ‘‘After 
you have written an article, take your pen and strike out half of the 
words, and you will be surprised to see how much stronger it is. ” In 
literature, our taste will be discovered by that which we give and our 
judgment by that which we withhold. 

There is nothing so fascinating as simplicity and earnestness. A 
writer who has an object and goes right on to accomplish it will compel 
the attention of his readers. Montaigne, the celebrated French essayist, 
whose clear style, as well as vigor of thought, has been the praise of 
good critics the world over, made his boast that he never used a word 
' that could not be readily understood by anybody in the Paris markets. 

• Plain words are ever the best. 

A man cannot put his thoughts, if he have any, into language too 
plain. Good writing, like good speaking, consists in simplicity and 
force of diction, and not in inflated, curiously balanced or elaborately 
constructed sentences. The best writing is but a degree above the best 
conversation, and that only because the writer has a little more time to 
select his words than the speaker has. 

Do not assume that, because you have something important to com¬ 
municate, it is necessary to write a long article. A tremendous thought 
may be packed into a small compass—made as solid as a cannon ball, 
and, like the projectile, cut down all before it. Short articles are gener¬ 
ally more effective, find more readers and are more widely copied than 
long ones. Pack your thoughts close together , and though your article 
may be brief it will be more likely to make an impression. 




108 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


Remember all.the time that facility in composition as in all other 
accomplishments, can only be obtained by practice and perseverance— 
True grace in writing conies by art, not chance; 

As they move easiest who have learned to dance. 

It should never be forgotten that the sole use of words and sen¬ 
tences is to convey thought and impression. Hence words and sentences 
should not be seen. The highest art in the use of language is to conceal 
itself. The old maxim is in place: “Ars est celare artem ”—“Art is in 
concealing art.” The perfection of a window pane is in concealing 
itself, so that as you look through it upon the objects beyond you do not 
see it, are not conscious that it is there. 

Many a man’s destiny has been made or marred for time and for 
eternity by the influence which a single sentiment has made on his mind, 
by its forming his character for life, making it terribly true that mo¬ 
ments sometimes fix the coloring of our whole subsequent existence. 
Hence those who write for the public should do so under a deep sense of 
responsibility, and endeavor to do it in that healthful and equable state 
of mind and body which favors a clear, unexaggerated and logical 
expression of ideas. 

Mr. Webster once replied to a gentleman who pressed him to speak 
on a subject of great importance: “The subject interests me deeply, but 
I have not time. There, sir,” pointing to a huge pile of letters on the 
table, “ is a pile of unanswered letters to which I must reply before the 
close of this session (which was then three days off), I have no time 
to master the subject so as to do it justice.” “ But, Mr. Webster, a few 
words from you would do much to awaken public attention to it.” “ If 
there is so much weight in my words as you represent, it is because I do 
not allow myself to speak on any subject until my mind is imbued 
with it.” 

The writer who uses weak arguments and strong epithets makes 
quite as great a mistake as the landlady who furnished her guests with 
weak tea and strong butter. More people commit suicide with the pen 
than with the pistol, the dagger and the rope. A pin has as much head 
as a good many authors, and a great deal more point. Good aims do not 
always make good books. 

Alexander Hamilton once said to an intimate friend: “ Men give me 
some credit for genius. All the genius I have lies just in this: When I 
have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before 
me. I explore it in all its bearings. My mind becomes pervaded with 
it. Then the effort which I make the people are pleased to call the fruit 
of genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought.” 

Obscurity in writing is commonly an argument of darkness in the 
mind. The greatest learning is to be seen in the greatest plainness. 
Obscure writers, like turbid streams, seem deeper than they are. Unin¬ 
telligible language is a lantern without a light. Some authors write non¬ 
sense in a clear style, and others sense in an obscure one; some can rea¬ 
son without being able to persuade, others can persuade without being 
able to reason. 

As 'tis a greater mystery in the art 
Of painting to foreshorten any part 
Than draw it out; so ’tis in books the chief 
Of all perfections to be plain and brief. 


POETRY AND GENERAL LITERATURE. 


The past but lives in words: a thousand ages 
Were blank, if books had not evoked their ghosts, 

And kept the pale, unbodied shades to warn us 
From fleshless lips. 

—Bulwer 

BOOKS, AUTHORS AND TITLES. 

The term Bible means The Book. 

Homer is called the “Father of poetry.” 

Thackeray’s first success was “Vanity Fair.” 

Even Milton stumbled into “mixed metaphor.” 

Boswell has been termed the “prince of biographers. ” 

Poems giving instruction on certain subjects are called didactic. 

The last six books of Spenser’s “Faerie Queene” were lost at sea. 

Roman authors all dedicated their works to some friend or patron. 

The Early English Text Society made its first publication in 1864. 

The authors of the seventeenth century wrote slavish “dedications.” 

The oldest book extant, Egyptian papyrus, is assigned to 2000 B. C. 

“Read much, but not many works,” is the advice of Sir W. Ham¬ 
ilton. 

A man may play the fool in everything else but poetry, says Mon¬ 
taigne. 

Mr. W. E. Ellsworth, of Chicago, paid $14,800 for a Gutenberg Bible 
in 1890. 

Only two odes and a few fragments survive of all the great lyrics of 
Sappho. 

When burned in 640, a.d., the Alexandrian library had 700,000 
volumes. 

A few scattered verses are all that remain of Ennius, the “father of 
Roman poetry.” 

Books in their present form were invented by Attalus, king of Per- 
gamus, in 887 B.C. 

A rare edition of Bocaccio was bought by the Duke of Marlborough, 
in 1812, for $11,500. 

The German government has paid $50,000 for a missal that belonged 
to Henry VIII. of England. 

Sandys’ “Ovid,” published 1626, was the first contribution of this 
country to English literature. 



110 


MANUAL OF USEFUL IN FORM A TION. 


Pastoral is the term applied to the poetry and literature that pro¬ 
fesses to depict shepherd life. 

Novelists make funny blunders. Amelia B. Edwards speaks of a 
“Massachusetts cotton plantation.” 

John Ruskin, who never published a volume of poetry, so-called, is 
the latest poet-laureate of England. 

The art of poetry is to touch the passions, says Volta, and its duty 
is to lead them on the side of virtue. 

The term biblioklept is a euphemism which softens the ugly word 
book-thief, by shrouding it in Greek. 

Shelley said that “ poetry is the record of the best and happiest 
moments of the happiest and best minds.” 

With the foundation of Harvard, 1636, may be hailed the dawn of 
literature in what is now the United States. 

A Turkish name for the nightingale is bul-bul, and it has been in¬ 
troduced into English poetry by Byron and Moore. 

The most successful instance of a long-continued literary partner¬ 
ship, was that of the French novelists, Erckmann and Chatrian. 

America has given to the English language its most scientific gram¬ 
marian, Lindley Murray, and its greatest lexicographer, Noah Webster. 

Wordsworth defined poetry as “the breath and finer spirit of all 
knowledge, the impassioned expression which is the countenance of all 
science.” 

It is generally conceded that our greatest literary production, up to 
date, is that entitled, “Declaration, of Independence,” 1776, by Thomas 
Jefferson and “others.” 

The term Barmecides Feast is applied to an imaginary feast which 
takes its name from the story of the barber’s sixth brother in the “Arabian 
Night’s Entertainment.” 

It is manifest, says Sir Philip Sidney, that all government of action 
is to be gotten by knowledge, and knowledge best, by gathering many 
knowledges, which is reading. 

Alastoris the name oi the mythical house demon, the “skeleton in 
the closet,” which haunts and torments a family. Shelley has a poem 
entitled Alas tor, or the Spirit of Solitude. 

Chap books were small stitched tracts written in popular style and 
sold by the chapmen. The chap books of the seventeenth century are 
valuable illustrations of the manners of that time. 

The first English newspaper was the English Mercury , begun in the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth, and was issued in the shape of a pamphlet. The 
Gazette of Venice was the original model of the modern newspaper. 

Columbine is the female mask of theltalian improvised plays, variously 
figuring as the attendant of Pantaloon’s daughter, or, occasionally, as 
the daughter herself. In English pantomime plays she is the betrothed 
of Harlequin. 

Cinque Cento is an Italian contraction for “one thousand five hun¬ 
dred” and a current term for the style in art and literature, which arose 
in Italy about or after the year 1500. It thus represents the revival of 
classical taste. 



POETRY AND GENERAL LITERATURE. 


Ill 


The so-called Aldine Editions were works from the press of Aldus 
Manutius, at Venice, celebrated for their binding and beautiful types. 
Many first editions of the Greek and Latin, as well as Italian classics, 
were printed by Aldus. 

Denouement, a French term naturalized in this country, is applied 
generally to the termination or catastrophe of a play or romance; but, 
more strictly speaking, to the train of circumstances solving the plot and 
hastening the catastrophe. 

The newspapers of India are published in many languages, and it 
is said that those in the native tongues are more widely circulated and 
read, in proportion to the number of copies printed, than is the case 
anywhere else in the world. 

The oldest newspaper in the world is said to be the British Press , 
which was first issued in 1662 and has just celebrated its 231st birthday. 
Three years later the London Gazette appeared, being published at Ox¬ 
ford on account of the plague in London. 

The troubadours were the minstrels of Southern France in the 
eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries. They were the first to discard 
Latin and use the native tongue in their compositions. Their poetry was 
either about love and gallantry or war and chivalry. 

The Capulets and Montagues w T ere two noble families of Verona, 
whose feuds have been rendered familiar by Shakspeare’s tragedy of 
“Romeo and Juliet.” Dante in his “Purgatorio” (VI.) alludes to the same. 
The story of Romeo and Juliet forms one of Bandello’s famous tales. 

Saga (Icel. “a tale”) is the term applied to a heroic tale among 
the Scandinavian nations, especially the Icelanders. The old literature 
of Iceland is rich in Sagas, supposed to have been committed to writ¬ 
ing about the twelfth century. Some of the Sagas have been trans¬ 
lated into English. 

The Trouveres were the minstrels of the north of France in the 
t-welfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The language they em¬ 
ployed w r as the “Walloon” or “Langue d’oil.” The themes they sang 
were satires and romances, tales of knavery and adventure, legends and 
historical traditions. 

There are 753 periodicals and newspapers in Russia, which contains 
a population of one hundred millions. According to the statistics of 
1892 there were 19,573 in this country, and a population of say sixty-five 
millions. The newspapers in Russia, however, are misnamed. They 
dare not print the news. 

The artistic representation in continuous narrative of the life and 
character of a particular individual is called a Biography. It may be 
either a mere curriculum vitce , detailing only the historical sequence of 
the incidents of a man’s life, or it may be an elaborate attempt at an 
analysis of his character and a complete reconstruction of the whole 
motives of his actions. 

Biblical students take much interest in “Bel and the Dragon,” an 
apocryphal book of the Old Testament in which the writer aims to wain 
some of his brethren against the sin of idolatry. Appearing first in the 
Septuagint, there is no evidence that it was ever accepted by the Jews as 
inspired. Jerome considered it a fable, but the Council of Trent declared 
the book canonical in 1546. 


112 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The Ancient Mariner is the hero of a poem by Coleridge. For the 
crime of having shot an albatross (a bird of good omen to seamen), terri¬ 
ble sufferings are visited upon him, which are finally remitted through 
his repentance; but he is doomed to wander over the earth, and to repeat 
his story to others as a warning lesson. 

Aladdin is the name of the hero of one of the tales of the “ Arabian 
Nights.” He is presented with a ‘‘wonderful lamp,” the genius of 
which appears whenever desired, and performs miraculous services. By 
means of this lamp Aladdin explores a vast cave, obtains enormous 
wealth, and marries the daughter of the Sultan. 

Tennyson’s beautiful poem, ‘‘Enoch Arden,” has an interesting plot. 
The hero is a seaman wrecked on a desert island, who returns home after 
the absence of several years, and finds his wife married to another. 
Seeing her both happy and prosperous, Enoch resolves not to mar her 
domestic peace, so he leaves her undisturbed, and dies of a broken heart. 

A club was organized at Venice in 1400, by some ladies and gentle¬ 
men who wore blue stockings, and thus came to be known as the Blue 
Stocking club. It appeared in France in 1590 as the bas bleif , and in 
1780 was transported to England. The name ‘‘blue stocking” is still 
given to women who are vain and pedantic at the expense of womanly 
duty and grace. 

Grub Street is thus described in Dr. Johnson’s “Dictionary”: “Origi¬ 
nally the name of a street near Moorfields in London, much inhabited 
by writers of small histories, dictionaries and temporary poems, whence 
any mean production is called Grub-street .” Andrew Marvell used the 
name in its opprobrious sense, which later was freely used by Pope, 
Swift and the rest. 

Any two lines which rhyme together may be called a couplet; but 
the term is more frequently used to denote two lines which contain the 
complete expression of an idea. Pope, as has been said, reasons in coup¬ 
lets. For example: 

’Tis with our judgments as our watches, none 
Go just alike, yet each believes his own. 

A Madrigal is a short lyric poem, generally on the subject of love, 
and characterized by some epigrammatic terseness or quaintness. It w T as 
written, as a rule, in iambic meter, contained not less than^ix or more 
than thirteen lines, and ran chiefly upon three rhymes. The name is also 
applied to the music for a simple song sung in a rich, artistic style, but 
without musical accompaniment. 

The term Black Letter (Jfilach ILetter) came into use about 1600, and 
is now applied to the types that are most generally knowm as Gothic. 
The first printed books imitated every peculiarity of the contemporary 
manuscripts; and as printing w r as first practised in Germany and the 
Netherlands, the first types w^ere copies of the letters in use in those 
countries in the middle of the fifteenth century. 

The art of foretelling the future by opening the Bible at random, and 
placing the finger on a chance passage, w hich is supposed to apply to the 
person pointing to it, is called Bibliomancy. In the fifth century its use 
w r as prohibited by the Council of Vanues, and again in the sixth century 
by the Councils of Agde and Orleans. It is said to have been introduced 
into England after the Norman Conquest. It is referred to by Tennyson 
in Enoch Arden. 


POETRY AND GENERAL LITERATURE. 


113 


The Minnesingers were love-poets, contemporary in Germany with 
the House of Hohenstauffen. Though called love-singers some of their 
poems were national ballads, and some were extended romances. Walter 
of Vogelweide was by far the best of the lyrists; Heinrich ofVeldigwas 
the most naive and ingenuous; Hartman the most classical; Wolfram the 
most sublime, and Gottfried the most licentious. 

The original “Maid of Athens,” rendered famous by Byron’s song, 
“Maid of Athens, fare thee well!” was Theresa Macri. Twenty-four years 
after this song was written, an Englishman sought out “the Athenian 
maid,” and found a beggar without a single vestige of beauty. She was 
married and had a large family; but the struggle of her life was to find 
bread to keep herself and family from positive starvation. 

The expressive title of Lyric has been given to a certain species of 
poetry because originally accompanied by the music of the lyre. It is 
rapid in movement, as befitting the expression of the mind in its emo¬ 
tional and impassioned moments, and naturally its principal themes are 
love, devotion, patriotism, friendship, and the Bacchanalian spirit. It 
was a favorite form among the ancient Greeks and Romans. 

The Iliad is the tale of the siege of Troy, an epic poem in twenty- 
four books, by Homer. Menelaos, king of Sparta, received as a guest 
Paris, a son of Priam, king of Troy. Paris eloped with Helen, his host’s 
wife, and Menelaos induced the Greeks to lay siege to Troy, to avenge 
the perfidy. The siege lasted ten years, when Troy was taken and burnt 
to the ground. Homer’s poem is confined to the last year of the siege. 

Verse without rhyme is called “blank” verse. The term is especi¬ 
ally applied to the heroic verse used in English dramatic and epic poetry, 
unrhymed iambic pentameter. Milton’s Paradise Lost is a most notable 
example. The name is applied more widely to unrhymed line6, irre¬ 
spective of their length, from such examples as the “Hiawatha” of Long¬ 
fellow, which contains eight syllables in its lines, to his “Evangeline,” 
which has as many as sixteen or even more. 

Cinderella is the heroine of a fairy tale. She was the drudge of the 
house, “put upon” by her two elder sisters. While the elder sisters were 
at a ball, a fairy came, and having arrayed the “little cinder-girl” in ball 
costume, sent her in a magnificent coach to the palace where the ball 
w r as given. The prince fell in love with her, but knew not who she was. 
This, however, he discovered by means of a ‘ ‘glass slipper’ ’ which she 
dropped, and which fitted no foot but her own. 

Famed in song and story is the Lorelei, or Lurlei, a rock which 
rises perpendicularly from the Rhine, to the height of four hundred and 
twenty-seven feet, near St. Goar. It used to be dangerous to boatmen, 
and has a celebrated echo. But the name is best known from Heine’s 
song of the siren who sits on the rock combing her long tresses, and 
singing so ravishingly that the boatmen, enchanted by the music of her 
voice, forget their duty, and are drawn upon the rock and perish. 

Ali Baba was a poor Persian wood-carrier, who accidentally learned 
the magic words, “Open Sesame!” “Shut Sesame!” by which he gained 
entrance into a vast cavern, the repository of stolen wealth and the lair 
of forty thieves. He made himself rich by plundering from these stores; 
and by the shrewd cunning of Morgiana, his female slave, the captain and 
his whole band of thieves were extirpated. In reward of these services 
Ali Baba gave Morgiana her freedom, and married her to his own son. 

U. I—8 


114 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The venerable story of “Beauty and the Beast,” from Les Contes 
Marines of Mde. Villeneuve (1740), is perhaps the most beautiful of all 
nursery tales. A young and lovely woman saved her father by putting 
herself in the power of a frightful but kind-hearted monster, whose re¬ 
spectful affection and melancholy overcame her aversion to his ugliness, 
and she consented to become his bride. Being thus freed from enchant¬ 
ment, the monster assumed his proper form and became a young and 
handsome prince. 

Gil Bias was the son of Bias of Santillane, ’squire or “ escudero ” to 
a lady, and brought up by his uncle, Canon Gil Peres. Gil Bias went to 
Dr. Godinez’s school, of Oviedo, and obtained the reputation of being a 
great scholar. He had fair abilities, a kind heart and good inclinations, 
but was easily led astray by his vanity. He was full of wit and humor, 
but lax in his morals. Duped by others at first, he afterwards played 
the same devices on those less experienced. As he grew in years, how¬ 
ever, his conduct improved, and when his fortune was made he became 
an honest, steady man. 

A daily record of events or observations made by an individual is 
known as a diary. In it the man of letters inscribes the daily results of 
his reading or his meditations. Pepy’s diary is a notable example. In it 
we find a mirror of the life of the seventeenth century in England. To 
the mercantile man it serves the purpose of an order or memorandum 
book; while the physician finds it indispensable as a register of engage¬ 
ments. Diaries in many forms and sizes are issued every year, contain¬ 
ing also so much miscellaneous information that in one book we have at 
once a diary and an almanac. 

The “Sturm und Drang Period” of German literature extended from 
1750 to 1800, and was the volcanic era, when French and Latin were 
banished from the language, and German was left unadulterated. The 
Sturm und Drang period of life is between twenty and twenty-five, all 
enthusiasm and cram full of radical reform. All abuses are to be swept 
away, and a Utopian millennium is to-be introduced. So in this literary 
period the language was to be purified, and German literature was to be 
made the model literature of the world. Old things were to be done 
away, and all things to become new. 

The famous letters of Junius were a series of political letters signed 
“Junius,” dissecting the conduct and characters of British public men— 
the Duke of Grafton, the Duke of Bedford, Lord Mansfield, and others, 
not excepting the King himself. These letters caused the utmost con¬ 
sternation amongst the ministry, and 'were immensely popular for their 
caustic satire, just censure, clear reasoning, their great knowledge of the 
secret government movements, and the brilliancy of their style. It is 
not known who was the author of these letters, but perhaps the most 
weighty evidence points to Sir Philip Francis. 

Among the weird creations of German folk-lore is Frankenstein, a 
student, who constructed, out of the fragments of bodies picked from 
churchyards and dissecting-rooms, a human form without a soul. The 
monster had muscular strength, animal passions and active life, but “ no 
breath of divinity.” It longed for animal love and animal sympathy, 
but was shunned by all. It was most powerful for evil, and being fully 
conscious of its own defects and deformities, sought with persistency to 
inflict retribution on the young student who had called it into being. 
The idea is powerfully embodied in Mrs. Shelley’s “ Frankenstein.” 


POETRY AND GENERAL LITERATURE. 


115 


“Nowhere” is the name given by Sir Thomas More to the imaginary 
island which he makes the scene of his famous political romance “Uto¬ 
pia.” More represents this island as having been discovered by Raphael 
Hythloday, a companion of Amerigo Vespucci, but it of course is England, 
its capital, Ainaurote, London. Its laws and institutions are represented 
as described in one afternoon’s talk at Antwerp, occupying the whole of 
the second book, to which, indeed, the first serves but as a framework. 
More’s romance has supplied (though incorrectly enough) the epithet 
Utopian to all impracticable schemes for the improvement of society. 

The Fiery Cross was a blazing torch in the form of across, carried 
from hill to hill to summon the clans to battle. Sir Walter Scott speaks 
of it in ‘ ‘The Lady of the Lake.” He says the chaplain slew a goat, and 
dipped the cross in its blood. It was then delivered to a swift runner, 
who ran with all his speed to the next hamlet, where he presented it to 
the principal person, who was bound to send it on. Every man, from 
sixteen to sixty years of age, was expected instantly to repair fully 
equipped for war to the place of rendezvous on pain of “fire and sword.” 
In the English civil war of 1745-46 the Fiery Cross was sent round thus. 

A passion for the collection of rare or curious books, originating in 
Holland, but attaining its highest point in France and England, has been 
well called Bibliomania. In its nobler aspect Andrew Lang has defined 
bibliomania as the “love of books for their own sake, for their paper, print, 
binding, and for their associations, as distinct from the love of literature. ’' 
Most extravagant prices have been paid by collectors. Bernard Quaritch 
has the credit of having paid the largest sum recorded for a single vol¬ 
ume, $24,750 for Psahnorum Codex (folio 1459). The first dated Decam¬ 
eron brought $11,300, and the Mazarin Bible, the first printed Bible, 
brought $19,500. 

The iEneid, Virgil’s epic poem, is contained in twelve books. When 
Troy was taken by the Greeks and set on fire, iEneas, with his father, 
son and wife, took flight, with the intention of going to Italy, the original 
birthplace of the family. The wife was lost, and the old man died on the 
way; but after numerous perils by sea and land, vEneas and his son Asca- 
nius reached Italy. Here Latinus, the reigning king, received the exiles 
hospitably, and promised his daughter Lavinia in marriage to .Eneas; 
but she had been already betrothed by her mother to prince Turnus, son 
of Daunus, king of Rutuli, and Turnus would not forego his claim. Lat¬ 
inus, in this dilemma, said the rivals must settle the dispute by an appeal 
to arms. Turnus being slain, .Eneas married Lavinia, and ere long 
succeeded his father-in-law on the throne. 

Petrarch appears to have been the first of modern poets crowned 
with laurel, 1341. Warton shows there were royal poets about the Eng¬ 
lish kings before the time of Richard I., whose court poet, Blondel, is 
said to have discovered the place of the king’s captivity and to have 
been the means of his release. Chaucer as royal poet was allowed a 
gallon of wine a day, and before that time a harper to Henry III. had an 
allowance of wine. Charles I. in 1630 made the office patent and settled 
both a stipend and wine on the ‘ ‘laureate. ’ ’ Till Tennyson was made poet 
the stipend was $635 plus $135 for the purchase of a cask of canary. The 
term arose thus: the king chose a laureated student of Oxford or Cam¬ 
bridge, that is, a student to whom a laurel c-rown had been presented for 
the best Latin ode in praise of Alma Mater. In France crowning with 
laurels is continued still. 


116 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORM A TION. 


John Alden was one of the early Pilgrim settlers in love with Pris¬ 
cilla, the beautiful Puritan. Miles Standish, a bluff old soldier, wishing 
to marry Priscilla, asked John Alden to go and plead for him; but the 
maiden answered archly, “Why don’t you speak for yourself, John.” 
Soon after this, Standish being reported killed by a poisoned arrow, John 
spoke for himself, and the maiden consented. Standish, however, was 
not killed, but only wounded; he made his re-appearance at the wedding, 
where, seeing how matters stood, he accepted the situation with the good 
natured remark: 

If you would be served you must serve yourself; and moreover 

No man can gather cherries in Kent at the season of Christmas. 

Longfellow, Courtship of Miles Standish, ix. 

The Harleian MSS. were a collection of MSS. formed by Robert 
Harley, Earl of Oxford (1661-1725), and purchased by government in 
1754 of the Duchess of Portland (his granddaughter) for $50,000. There 
are 14,236 original rolls, charters and other deeds, besides 7,639 volumes. 
The collection is very miscellaneous, but its main character is historical. 
It is rich in heraldic and genealogical MSS., in county visitations, par¬ 
liamentary and legal proceedings, original records and calendars, abbey 
registers, missals, antiphonaries, and other Catholic service-books, 
ancient English poetry, and works on arts and sciences. It is kept in 
the British Museum library. It also contains the oldest known MS. of 
Homer’s “Odyssey,” two very early copies of the Latin Gospels in gold 
letters, 300 MS. Bibles or Biblical books, 200 volumes of the Fathers, etc. 

“Gesta Romanorum” (“ the deeds of the Romans”), is the title of a 
collection of short stories and legends, in the Latin tongue, widely spread 
during the middle ages, but of the authorship of which little is known 
save that it took its present form most likely in England about the end 
of the thirteenth or the beginning of the fourteenth century. The stories 
are invariably moralized, and indeed the edifying purpose throughout is 
the sole unifying element of the collection. The title is only so far de¬ 
scriptive as the nucleus of the collection consists of stories from Roman 
history, or rather pieces from Roman writers, not necessarily of any 
greater historical value than that of Androcles and the lion from Aulus 
Gellius. Moralized, mystical and religious tales, as well as other pieces, 
many of ultimate oriental origin, were afterwards added, and upon them 
edifying conclusions hung but awkwardly, bringing the whole up to 
about one hundred and eighty chapters. 

Excalibur was the name of the famous mystic sword of King Arthur. 
There seem to have been two swords so called. One was the sword 
sheathed in stone, which no one could draw thence, save he who was to 
be king of the land. Above two hundred knights tried to release it, 
but failed; Arthur alone could draw it with ease, and thus proved his 
right of succession. This sword is called Excalibur, and is said to have 
been so bright “that it gave light like thirty torches.” After his fio-ht 
with Pellinore the king told Merlin he had no sword, and Merlin 
took him to a lake, and Arthur saw an arm “clothed in white samite, 
that held a fair sword in the hand.” Presently the Lady of the Lake 
appeared, and Arthur begged that he might have the sword, and the lady 
told him to go and fetch it. When he came back to it he took it, ‘ ‘and 
the arm and hand w r ent under the w T ater again.” This is the sword gen¬ 
erally called Excalibur. When about to die, King Arthur sent an attend¬ 
ant to cast the sword back again into the lake, and again the hand 
“clothed in white samite” appeared, caught it, and disappeared. 


POETRY AND GENERAL LITERATURE. 


117 


Lady Godiva is the famous patroness of Coventry, England, who 
built herself an everlasting name by an unexampled deed of magnanim¬ 
ity and devotion. About the year 1040 Leofric, Earl of Mercia and Lord 
of Coventry, imposed certain exactions upon the inhabitants, hard and 
grievous to be borne. His wife, the lady Godiva, besought her husband 
to give them relief, and pleaded so earnestly that, to escape from her im¬ 
portunities, he would grant her the favor, but only on the impossible 
condition that she would ride naked through the town. Godiva ordered 
proclamation to be made that on a certain day no one should be in the 
streets, or even look from their houses, when, “clothed on with chastity,” 
she rode through the town; and her husband, in admiration of her intrepid 
devotion, performed his promise. Tennyson’s poem, “Godiva,” is well 
known. 

Byron’s tale called “The Giaour” is supposed to be told by a Turkish 
fisherman who had been employed all the day in the gulf of ^Egina, and 
landed his boat at night-fall on the Piraeus, now called the harbor of Port 
Leone. He was eye-witness of all the incidents, and in one of them a 

principal agent (see line 352: “I hear the sound of coming feet.”.) 

The tale is this: Leilah, the beautiful concubine of the caliph Hassan, 
falls in love with a giaour, flees from the seraglio, is overtaken by an 
emir, put to death, and cast into the sea. The giaour cleaves Hassan’s 
skull, flees for his life, and becomes a monk. Six years afterwards he 
tells his history to his father confessor on his death-bed, and prays him 
to ‘ ‘lay his body with the humblest dead, and not even to inscribe his 
name on his tomb.” Accordingly, he is called “the Giaour,” and is 
known by no other name (1813). 

El Dorado (“the Golden or Gilded Land”), originally existed but 
vaguely in the imaginations of the Spanish conquerors of America, 
whose insatiable avarice, feeding greedily on the marvellous accounts 
readily supplied by the natives—who were only anxious to get rid of their 
robber-guests—loved to dream of richer rewards than those of Mexico 
and Peru. But after Orellana’s voyage down the Amazon, in 1540, the 
report was greatly embellished, and the locality of the fabulous region 
placed near the head springs of the Orinoco. Many a soldier of fortune 
perished in the search, many a brave troop of adventurers brought but a 
fraction of their number back, before the vast Lake of Parime, with 
Manoa, the city of gold, on its northern shore, was reluctantly relegated 
to the atlas of the poets. The most famous expeditions were those of 
Philip von Hutten (1541-46) and Sir Walter Raleigh; the last was that of 
Antonio Santos, in 1780. 

Every land and age has heard of Bluebeard, the hero of the well-known 
nursery tale, so named from the color of his beard. The story is widely 
known in Western Europe, but the form in which it has become familiar 
is not an independent version, but a free translation of that given by Per- 
rault in his famous “ Contes ” (1697). In this story Bluebeard is a seigneur 
of great wealth, who marries the daughter of a neighbor in the country, 
and a month after the wedding goes from home on a journey leaving 
his wife the keys of his castle, but forbidding her to enter one room. 
She cannot resist her curiosity, opens the door to find the bodies of all 
Bluebeard’s former wives, and at once sees the fate to which she herself 
is doomed. Bluebeard, on his return, discovers, from a spot of blood 
upon the key, which could not be cleaned off, that his wife had broken 
his command, and tells her that she must die. She begs for a short 



118 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


respite to commend herself to God, sends her sister Anne to the top of 
the tower to look round if any help is near, and finally is just on the 
point of having her head cut off, when her two brothers burst in and 
despatch Bluebeard. There are many versions of the story, all agreeing 
in essential details. It is found in the German, French, Greek, Tuscan, 
Icelandic, Esthonian, Gaelic and Basque folk-lore. 

Few but have read somewhat of the Flying Dutchman, a phantom 
ship, seen in stormy weather off the Cape of Good Hope, and thought to 
forebode ill-luck. The legend is that it was a vessel laden with precious 
metal, but a horrible murder having been committed on board, the 
plague broke out among the crew, and no port would allow the ship to 
enter, so that it was doomed to float about like a ghost, and never to 
enjoy rest. Another legend is that a Dutch captain, homeward bound, 
met with long-continued headwinds off the Cape, but swore he would 
double the cape and not put back, if he strove till the day of doom. He 
was taken at his word, and there he still beats, but never succeeds in 
rounding the point. Captain Marryat has a novel founded on this 
legend, called “The Phantom Ship,” 1836. 

The “Wandering Jew ” was last seen in the seventeenth century. 
On January 1, 1644, he appeared at Paris, and created a great sensation 
among all ranks. He claimed to have lived sixteen hundred years, and 
to have traveled through all regions of the world. He was visited by 
many prominent personages, and no one could accost him in a language 
of which he was ignorant. He replied readily and without embarrass¬ 
ment to any questions propounded, and he was never confounded by 
any amount of cross-questioning. He seemed familiar -with the history 
of persons and events from the time of Christ, and claimed an acquaint¬ 
ance with all the celebrated characters of sixteen centuries. Of himself 
he said that he was usher of the court of judgment in Jerusalem, where 
all criminal cases were tried at the time of our Savior; that his name 
was Michab Ader; and that for thrusting Jesus out of the hall with these 
words, “ Go, why tarriest thou ? ” the Messiah answered him, “I go, 
but tarry thou till I come,” thereby condemning him to live till the day 
of judgment. The learned looked upon him as an impostor or madman, 
yet took their departure bewildered and astonished. 

The famous John Gilpin was a linen-draper, living in London. His 
w T ife said to him, 4 ‘Though we have been married twenty years, we have 
taken no holiday;” and at her advice the well-to-do linen-draper agreed 
to make a family party, and dine at the Bell, at Edmonton. Mrs. Gilpin, 
her sister, and four children went in the chaise, and Gilpin promised to 
follow on horseback, having borrowed a horse from his friend, a calender. 
As madam had left the wine behind, Gilpin girded it fast in two stone 
bottles to his belt, and started on his way. The horse being fresh, began 
to trot, and then to gallop; and John, being a bad rider, grasped the mane 
with both his hands. On went the horse, off flew John Gilpin’s cloak, 
together with his hat and wig. The dogs barked, the children screamed, 
the turnpike men (thinking he was riding for a wager) flung open their 
gates. He flew through Edmonton, and never stopped till he reached 
Ware, when his friend, the calender, gave him welcome, and asked him to 
dismount. Gilpin, however, declined, saying his wife w r ould be expect¬ 
ing him. So the calender furnished him with another hat and w r ig, and 
Gilpin harked back again, when similar disasters occurred, till the horse 
stopped at his house in London. 


POETRY AND GENERAL LITERATURE. 


119 


VANITY OF THE SCHOLASTICS. 

It was much the fashion, especially with German and Dutch authors 
who wrote in Latin, to convert their names into a Greek or Latin equiva¬ 
lent, or to give them a classic turn as: 

The real name of Agricola, the reformer and friend of Luther, was 
Schneider (a tailor). This was assuming another name. 

Bucer was a Dominican and friend of Luther, whose real name was 
Kulihorn (cow-horn), of which bucer is the Greek. 

Desiderius Erasmus w r as the assumed name of a Dutchman whose 
real name was Gheraerd Gheraerd, of which Desiderius is the Latin and 
Erasmos the Greek. 

Melanchthon was one of Luther’s friends, whose real name was 
Schwartzerde (black earth). Melanchthon is the Greek fora “heap of 
black earth.” 

CEcolampadius is the Latinized name of Johan Hausschein, the 
reformer. 

Paracelsus is Graeco-Latin for Bombast. The name was assumed 
by A. T. Bombast. 

Porphyry is the Grecized name of Malk, a disciple of Plotin. 

Regiomontanus, a Latinized form of Konigsberger. Johann Mtiller 
called himself Konigsberg in Franconia. 

Stobaeus is Stubbs Latinized. 


COPYRIGHT AND INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT. 

Copyright is the exclusive right to multiply copies of a written or 
printed composition, or of a work of art. Such rights were claimed by 
authors even before the introduction of printing. After the invention of 
the printing press, the right to publish books became the subject of 
licenses and patents. The terms of copyright and the legal questions 
bearing on them are so complex as to demand study in special treatises. 

The first steps to secure international copyright to protect the works 
of artists and authors were taken at Berne, September, 1885. Prominent 
part in the proceedings was taken by representatives from Great Britain, 
France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, 
Switzerland, Tunis, Hayti, and Honduras. A draft of a convention was 
settled to secure in each of these countries international copyright. An 
office of International Union for protection of literary and artistic works 
was established under the supervision of the Swiss Government. In 
Great Britain, acts of Parliament were passed successively in 1844, 1852, 
1875, and 1886, to secure to foreign authors and artists the copyright of 
their works, provided British artists and authors were reciprocally pro¬ 
tected in such foreign countries, discretion being given to Her Majesty, 
by order in council, to fix conditions of compliance. In the United 
States an international copyright act came into force July 1, 1891, secur¬ 
ing under certain conditions, artistic and literary copyright between 
Great Britain and the United States. One important condition of the 
new act is its requirement that the work must be printed in the United 
States to secure the advantages of international copyright. 

HOW LITERATURE PAYS. 

Goldsmith received $300 for the “Vicar of Wakefield;” Moore, $15,- 
000 for “Lalla Rookh; ’’Victor Hugo, $12,000for “Hernani;” Chateaubri- 




120 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


and, $110,000 for his works; Lamartine, $16,000 for “Travels in Palestine;’* 
Disraeli, $50,000 for “Endyinion;’’ Anthony Trollope, $315,000 for forty 
five novels; Lingard, $21,500 for his “History of England;” Mrs. Grant 
received over $600,000 as royalty from the sale of “The Personal Memoirs 
of U. S. Grant.” 


LITERARY PSEUDONYMS. 

Pseudonyms are false names adopted by an author to conceal his 
identity. Originally “pseudonymous” was used of works deliberately 
published under a false name, so as to induce people to believe them the 
works of those whose names they bore, or of works erroneously attributed 
to a wrong person. 

The following list of pseudonyms adopted by famous authors has 
been specially compiled for this Manual: 


A.L.O.E. (=A Lady Charlotte Maria 

of England) . Tucker. 

Adeler, Max .Chas. Heber Clark. 

Alexander, Mrs .Mrs. A. F. Hector. 

Ansiey, E. .F. Anstey Guthrie. 

Allas ("World”).Edmund Yates. 

Bab .W. S. Gilbert. 

Bede, Cuthbert ...... Rev. Edw. Bradley. 

Bell, Acton .Anne Bronte. 

“ Currer .Charlotte Bronte. 

" Ellis . Emily Jane Bronte. 

Bibliophile, Jacob .... Paul Lacroix. 

Bicker staff, Isaac Dean Swift. and 

Steele in Tatler. 

Biglow, Hosea .J. Russell Lowell. 

Billings, Josh .Henry W. Shaw. 

Bon Gaultier .Sir Theodore Martin 

and W. E. Aytoun. 

Boz .Chas. Dickens. 

Breitmann, Hans _Chas. G. Leland. 

Carmen Sylva .Queen of Roumania. 

Conway, Hugh .F. J. Fargus. 

Cornwall, Barry... B. W. Procter. 

Crayon Geoffrey .Washington Irving. 

Danbury Newsman.]. M. Bailey 

Elia .Charles Lamb. 

Eliot, George .Mrs. Mary Ann Cross 

(nee Evans.) 

Ettrick Shepherd .James Hogg. 

Fern, Fanny . Mrs. Sara P. Parton. 

Graduate of Oxford .John Ruskin. 
Greenwood, Grace... Mrs. Lippincott. 

Greville, Henry .Mme. Durand. 

H. H .Mrs. Helen Hunt 

Jackson. 

Hamilton, Gail .. Mary Abigail Dodge. 

Harland, Marion _Mrs. M. V. Terhune 

(nee Hawes.) 

Historicus . Sir W. Vernon Har- 

court. 

Jean Paul .J. P. F. Richter. 

Kerr, Orpheus C _R. H. Newell. 

Knickerbocker, Die- 

drich . Washington Irving. 

L. E. L . Letitia E. Landon. 

Lee, Vernon .Violet Paget. 

Loti, Pierre .Julien Viaud. 

Lyall. Edna .Ada Ellen Bayly. 

Maitland, Thomas. ..R. Buchanan. 

Malet, Lucas .Mrs. Harrison (nee 

Kingsley.) 

Mathers, Helen .Mrs. Reeves (nie 

Matthews.) 


Meredith, Owen .Earl ofLytton. 

Miller, Joaquin... . C. H Miller. 

Nasby. Petroleum V..D. R. Locke. 

North. Christopher. .Prof. John Wilson. 

O'Doivd, Cornelius.. Charles Lever. 

Ogilvy Gavin .J. M. Barrie. 

Old Humphrey .G. Mogridge. 

Omnium.Jacob .Matt. Jas. Higgins. 

Opium Eater. .T. De Quincey. 

Optic, Oliver .Wm. T. Adams. 

O'Rell, Max . Paul Blouet. 

Ouida .Louise de la Rame. 

J Douglas Jerrold. 

Q .(A. T. QuillerCouch. 

f Sam. G. Goodrich; 

| W. Martin; 

Parley, Peter . \ G. Mogridge; 

I W. Tegg; 

(J. Bennett. 

Phiz .Hablot K. Browne. 

Pindar, Peter .John Wolcot. 

Plymley . Peter . Sydney Smith. 

Prout, Father .F. S. Mahony. 

Quirinus .Dr. Dolilnger. 

Rob Roy .John Macgregor. 

Sand, George .Madame Dudevant 

(w&’Dupin.) 

Scriblerus, MartinusSwift, Pope, and 

Arbuthnot. 

Shirley .John Skelton. 

Slick, Sam .T. C. Haliburton. 

Stepniak .S. Kartcheffsky. 

Stretton, Hesba .Sarah Smith. 

Syntax, Dr .Wm. Combe. 

Titcomb, Timothy _J. G. Holland. 

Titmarsh, Michael 

Angelo .W. M. Thackeray. 

Twain, Mark .Samuel L. Clemens. 

Tytler, Sarah .Miss H. Keddie. 

Uncle Remus ... Joel Chandler Harris. 

Urban, Sylvanus ...Editor of The Gentle¬ 
man's Magazine. 

Vacuus Viator .Thomas Hughes. 

Voltaire .Francois M a r ie 

Arouet. 

Ward, Artemus .Chas. F. Browne. 

Warden, Florence .. .Mrs. G. James. 

Wether ell, Elizabeth. Susan Warner. 
Winter,JohnStrange Mrs. H. E. V. Stan- 

nard. 

Zadkiel. .Capt. R. J. Morrison. 

R. N. 




























































POETRY AND GENERAL LITERATURE. 121 
THE FORTY IMMORTALS OF THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 



Y ear 
Electee 

1 

QC 

<y» 

2 

1862... 

3 

1865... 

4 

1870... 

5 

1870... 

6 

1871... 

7 

1871... 

8 

1874... 

9 

1874... 

10 

1875... 

11 

1876... 

12 

1876... 

13 

1877... 

14 

1878... 

15 

1878... 

16 

1880 .. 

17 

1880... 

18 

*—* 
00 
00 

1— 

19 

1881... 

20 

1881... 

21 

1882... 

22 

1882... 

23 

►—e 

CO 

00 

24 

1884.... 

25 

1884.... 

26 

1884 ... 

27 

1884.... 

28 

1884.... 

29 

1886 ... 

30 

1886.... 

31 

1886.... 

32 

1886.... 

33 

1888.... 

34 

888... 

35 

1888.... 

36 

1888.... 

37 

1890.... 

38 

891. .. 

39 1 

892.... 

40 



Name. 


Born. 


Ernest Wilfred Gabriel Bap¬ 
tiste Legouve . 

Jacques Victor Albe, Ducde 

Brogile.. 

Charles Camille Doucet. 

Emile Olivier. 

Xavier Marmier. 

Henri Eugene Orleans. Due 

d'Aumale. 

Camille Felix Michel Rous- 

set . 

Alfred Jean Francois M6z- 

ieres. 

Alexandre Dumas. 

John Emile Leinoinne. 

Jules Francois Simon. 

Marie Louis Antoine Bois- 

sier. 

Victorien Sardou. 

Hippolyte Adolph Taiue.... 
Edmund Armand, Due 

A’Audiffret-Pasquier. 

Maxime Du Camp. 

Aime Joseph Edmund 

Rousse. 

Rene Francis Armand Sully- 

Prudhomme. 

Louis Pasteur. 

Charles Victor Cherbulliez.. 
Adolphe Louis Albert Per- 

raud . 

Edouard Jules Henri Paill- 

eron. 

Louis Charles de Mazade- 

Percin. 

Francoise Edouard Joachin 

Coppee. 

Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps 

Jean Victor Duruy. 

Joseph Louis Francois Bert¬ 
rand .. 

Ludovic Hal6vy. 

Jean Baptiste Leon Say.. 
Charles Marie Leconte de 

Lisle. 

Aime Marie Edouard Herve 
Vallery Clement Octave 

Grgard. 

Othenin Paul de Cleron, 

Comte d’Haussonville_ 

Jules Arnaud Arsene Cla- 

retie. 

Henri Meilhac. 

Eugene Marie Melchior Vi- 

comte de Vogue. 

Charles Louis de Saulces de 

Frey ci net. 

Louis Marie Julien Viaud 

(Pierre Loti) . 

Ernest Lavisse. 

Seat Vacant *. 


Predecessor. 


Paris, 1807. 


Paris, 1821. 

Paris. 18)2. 

Marseilles, 1825 
Pontarlier, 1808. 


Paris, T22. 
Paris, 1821.. 


Paris, 1826.... 

Paris. 1824_ 

London, 1815. 
Lorient, 1814.. 


Nimes. 1823.... 

Paris. 1831. 

Vouziers, 1826. 


Ancelot. 

# 

Lacordaire, Pere. 
De Vigny. 

De Lamartine. 

De Pongerville. 

De Montalembert. 

Prevost-Paradol. 

St. Marc-Girardin. 
Lebrun. 

Janin. 

De Remusat. 

Patin. 

Autran. 

De Lom£nie. 


Paris, 1823. ..J Dupanloup (Bishop). 

Paris, 1822.St. Rene-Taillandier. 

Paris, 1817.^Jules Favre. 


Paris. 18^9.... 
Dole, 1822. 
Geneva, 1829. 


Lyons. 1828. 

Paris, 1839. 

Castelsarrazin, 1820. 


Paris. 1842. 

Versailles, 1805. 
Paris, 1811. 


Paris, 1822., 
Paris, 1834. 
Paris, 1816. 


Isle de Reunion, 1818. 
Isle de Reunion, 1835. 


Duvergier de Huranne. 
Littre. 

Dufaure. 

Auguste Barbier. 

Charles Blanc. 

Comte de Champagny. 

De Laprade. 

Henri Martin. 

Mignet. 

J. B. Dumas. 

Comte d’Haussonville. 
Edmond About. 

Victor Hugo. 

Due de Noailles. 


Vire, 1828.Comte de Falloux. 

Gurey, 1843.Caro. 


Limoges, 1840. 
Paris, 1830.... 


Nice, 18,8. 
Foix, 1828., 


Rochefort. 1850. 
Nouvien, 1842... 


Cuvillier-Fleury. 

Labiche. 

Desire Nisard. 

Emile Augier. 

Octave Feuillet. 

Jurien de la Graviere. 
Joseph Ernest Renan. 


*In April, 1893, M. Challemel-Lacour was elected to fill vacancy caused by death of 
M. R£nan. 




































































































122 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


SOME LARGE LIBRARIES. 

Statistics of twenty leading libraries in this country show that of over 
$500,000 spent, a little more than $170,000 was devoted to books, while 
other expenses consumed $358,000. In the Mercantile Library of New 
York city it cost 14 cents to circulate a volume; in the Astor 14^ cents 
are spent on each volume, or 27 cents on each reader; in Columbia Col¬ 
lege Library, 21>£ cents per reader; in the Library Company of Philadel- 
delphia, 26 cents per volume, or 10 cents per head. The largest library 
in the world is the National Library of France, founded by Louis XIV, 
which now contains 1,400,000 books, 300,000 pamphlets, 175,000 manu¬ 
scripts, 300,000 maps and charts, 150,000 coins and medals, 1,300,000 en¬ 
gravings, and 100,000 portraits. The Library of Congress is the largest 
in this country, as it contained 570,000 volumes in 1886. The Mercantile 
Library of Philadelphia was the seventh in point of size in this country 
in the same year. There are in the United States 5,338 libraries. 

The famous institution called the British Museum began with the 
purchase by the government for $100,000 of the magnificent library and 
collection of Sir Hans Sloane, which has since been constantly added to, 
and now contains a million and a half printed volumes. It now comprises 
the Cottonian, the Harlean, the Towney, the Elgin, the Knight, the Slade, 
and other collections. In 1881 the Natural History, Geological and Mineral- 
ogical Collections were removed to a new building at South Kensington. 

The famous Bodleian Library was originally the public library of 
Oxford University, restored by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1598. His first act 
was the presentation of a large collection of valuable books, purchased 
on the Continent at an expense of $50,000. By the Copyright Act it is 
entitled to a copy of every book printed in Great Britain. The number 
of volumes it possesses is estimated at about four hundred thousand, in 
addition to between twenty thousand and thirty thousand in manuscript. 

HONORS AMONG BOOKS. 

I. The first book printed in German (1461) was the “Edelstein,” (or 
“precious stone”) by Ulrich Boner—a collection of fables, tales, and 
maxims in reproof of evil ways and for the encouragement of piety and 
virtue. The first printed book was the Psalter of Mainz, 1457; the next 
was William Durand’s “Holy Office” (“ Rationale divinorum officiorum 
libris viii distindum"), printed 1459; the third was Balbis’ “ Gatholi - 
con," a sort of dictionary, 1460; then comes the “Edelstein,” in German. 

II. The highest price ever offered for a book was $96,000. It was 
a Hebrew Bible in the possession of the Vatican. In 1512, the Jews of 
Venice wished to buy this book, but though Julius II. was greatly pressed 
for money in order to keep up the Holy League against Louis XII. of 
France, he declined to part with the volume. 

The German Government paid $50,000 for the missal given by Leo 
X. to Henry VIII., along with the parchment conferring on him the 
right to assume the title of “Defender of the Faith.” Charles II. gave 
these relics to the ancestor of the famous Duke of Hamilton, whose 
library was sold by Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson, and Hodge of London. 

III. The largest book on one subject is the "Ada Sanctorum," of 
the Bollandists, not yet completed (1893). The 61st volume was published 
in 1875. 

IV. The oldest book in the world is a papyrus containing the prov¬ 
erbs of Ptah-hotep, an Egyptian king, who reigned some 3000 b.c., which 


POETRY AND GENERAL LITERATURE. 


123 


was before the birth of Abraham. It has been in part translated by 
Chabas and others, and may be seen in English dress in J. D. Heath’s 
“Record of the Patriarchal Age.” 


FIRST NEWSPAPERS. 

In ancient Rome an official gazette, called “ Acta Diurna ,” was issued 
under the management and authority of the government, and posted 
up daily in some prominent place in the city. 

In Venice a paper of public intelligence, called “ Gazetta ,” was 


published in. 1620 

In England the first weekly newpaper was published by Nathaniel 

Butler in. 1622 

In Engeand the first daily newspaper in. 1709 

In France the first weekly newspaper was published in. 1631 

In France the first daily in. 1777 

In America, at Boston, a newspaper was published in. . 1690 

In Ireeand the first newspaper, called “Rue's Occurrences ,,” ap- 


pcaicu xii. 1/UU 

In Ireland the oldest Dublin newspaper, “The Freeman's Jour¬ 
nal," in. 1755 

In Germany the first newspaper was published in. 1715 

In Holland the first newspaper was published in. 1732 

In Turkey the first newspaper was published in. 1795 

In Australia the first newspaper was published in.1803 


BOOKS WE HEAR ABOUT. 

“The Pilgrim’s Progress,” by John Bunyan: Pt. i., 1678; pt. ii., 1684. 
This is supposed to be a dream, and to allegorize the life of a Christian, 
from his conversion to his death. His doubts are giants, his sins a pack, 
his Bible a chart, his minister Evangelist, his conversion a flight from 
the City of Destruction, his struggle with besetting sins a fight with 
Apollyon, his death a toilsome passage over a deep stream, and so on. 
The second part is Christiana and her family led by Greatheart through 
the same road, to join Christian, who had gone before. 

Robinson Crusoe, a tale by Daniel Defoe. Robinson Crusoe ran 
away from home, and went to sea. Being wrecked, he led for many years 
a solitary existence on an uninhabited island of the tropics, and relieved 
the weariness of life by numberless contrivances. At length he met a 
human being, a young Indian, whom he saved from death on a Friday. 
He called him his “man Friday,” and made him his companion and serv¬ 
ant. Defoe founded this story on the adventures of Alexander Selkirk, 
sailing master of the “Cinque Ports Galley,” who was left by Captain 
Stradling on the desolate island of Juan Fernandez for four years and 
four months (1704-1709), when he was rescued by Captain Woodes Rog¬ 
ers and brought to England. 

“The Vicar of Wakefield,” a novel, by Oliver Goldsmith, 1766. Dr. 
Primrose, a simple-minded, pious clergyman, with six children. He be¬ 
gins life with a good fortune, a handsome house, and wealthy friends, 
but is reduced to utter poverty without any fault of his own, and, being 
reduced like Job, like Job he is restored. First he loses his fortune 
through the rascality of the merchant who held it. His next great sor¬ 
row was the elopement of his eldest daughter, Olivia, with Squire Thorn- 


















,•124 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


hill. His third was the entire destruction by fire of his house, furniture, 
and books, together with the savings which he had laid by for his 
daughters’ marriage portions. His fourth was being incarcerated in the 
county jail by Squire Thornhill for rent, his wife and family being driven 
out of house and home. His fifth was the announcement that his daughter 
Olivia “was dead,” and that his daughter Sophia had been abducted. 
His sixth was the imprisonment of his eldest son, George, for sending a 
challenge to Squire Thornhill. His cup of sorrow was now full, and 
comfort was at hand: (1) Olivia was not really dead, but was said to be 
so in order to get the vicar to submit to the squire, and thus obtain his 
release. (2) His daughter Sophia had been rescued by Mr. Burchell {Sir 
William Thornhill ), who asked her hand in marriage. (3) His son 
George was liberated from prison, and married Miss Wilmott, an heiress. 
(4) Olivia’s marriage to the squire, which was said to have been informal, 
was showm to be legal and binding. (5) The old vicar was released, re¬ 
established in his vicarage, and recovered a part of his fortune. 

“Ivanhoe,’’ a novel by Sir W. Scott (1820). The most brilliant and 
splendid of romances in any language. Rebecca, the Jewess, was Scott’s 
favorite character. The scene is laid in England in the reign of Richard 
I., and we are introduced to Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest, banquets 
in Saxon halls, tournaments, and all the pomp of ancient chivalry. 
Rowena, the heroine, is quite thrown into the shade by the gentle, meek, 
yet high-souled Rebecca. 

“Vanity Fair,” a novel by W. M. Thackeray (1848). Becky (Re¬ 
becca) Sharp, the daughter of a poor painter, dashing, selfish, unprin¬ 
cipled, and very clever, contrives to marry Rawdon Crawley, afterwards 
his excellency Colonel Crawley, C. B., governor of Coventry Island. 
Rawdon expected to have a large fortune left him by his aunt, Miss 
Crawley, but was disinherited on account of his marriage with Becky, 
then a poor governess. Becky contrive" to live in splendor on ‘ ‘nothing 
a year,” gets introduced at court, and is patronized by Ford Steyne, 
earl of Gaunt; but this intimacy giving birth to a great scandal, Becky 
breaks up her establishment, and is reduced to the lowest Bohemian life. 
Afterwards she becomes the “female companion” of Joseph Sedley, a 
wealthy “collector,” of Boggley Wollah, in India. Having insured his 
life and lost his money, he dies suddenly under very suspicious circum¬ 
stances, and Becky lives for a time in splendor on the Continent. Subse¬ 
quently she retires to Bath, wdiere she assumes the character of a pious, 
charitable Lady Bountiful, given to all good works. The other part of 
the story is connected with Amelia Sedley, daughter of a wealthy Lon¬ 
don stock-broker, who fails, and is reduced to indigence. Captain 
George Osborne, the son of a London merchant, marries Amelia, and old 
Osborne disinherits him. The young people live for a time together, 
when George is killed in Waterloo. Amelia is reduced to great poverty, 
but is befriended by Captain Dobbin, who loves her to idolatry, and 
after many years of patience and great devotion, she consents to marry 
him. Becky Sharp rises from nothing to splendor, and then falls; Amelia 
falls from wealth to indigence, and then rises. 



MYTHOLOGY AND FOLK-LORE. 


’Tis a history 

Handed from ages down; a nurse’s tale. 

Which children, open ey’d.and mouth'd devour, 

And thus, as garrulous ignorance relates, 

We learn it and believe. 

—Southey. 

VAGARIES OF HUMAN BELIEF. 

Chinese history, or fable, begins 2205 b. c. 

Orion was a giant hunter, noted for his beauty. 

Puck and Robin Goodfellow are identical myths. 

The Ogri were giants said to feed on human flesh. 

Euphrasia was the name of ‘‘the Grecian Daughter.” 

Olympus, in Greece, was on the confines of Macedonia. 

In Vulcan’s mirror were seen the past, present and future. 

The toadstool is called in Ireland the “fairy’s mushroom.” 

A task that makes no progress is likened to Penelope’s web. 

At the age of one year Jupiter was making war on the Titans. 

All known languages have a story of “Jack the Giant-Killer.” 

Loki was the god of strife and evil in Scandinavian mythology. 
Jupiter chose the eagle as the best preservative against lightning. 
The original Tom Thumb was a dwarf knighted by King Arthur. 
The obi superstitions of the negro are still prevalent in the South. 
The leprechaun was an Irish goblin who could direct you to hidden 
gold. 

Apotheosis was the deification, or raising of a mortal to the rank of 
a god. 

The pagan priests of Egypt were the first to reduce mythology to a 
system. 

As late as 1805 a woman was tried for witchcraft at Kircudbright, 
Scotland. 

The oak is sacred to Jupiter because he first taught mankind to live 
upon acorns. 

Where fable ends and real history begins is an obscure line in the an¬ 
nals of all nations. 

The chief astronomers, from Ptolemy down to Kepler, were all be¬ 
lievers in astrology. 


125 



12G 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


According to Homer Mesopotamia had a breed of asses which never 
fled from an enemy. 

“Born in the foam of the sea,” is the signification of Aphrodite, the 
Greek name for Venus. 

The goat was the animal usually sacrificed to Bacchus, on account of 
its propensity to destroy the vine. 

It is Memnon’s statue, at Thebes, which is said to make musical 
sounds when struck by the morning sun. 

The ordinary events of nature transformed into allegory would ex¬ 
plain very many of the legends of the ancients. 

The gypsies are said to be wanderers because they refused shelter to 
the Virgin and Christ Child on the flight into Egypt. 

The peculiar term “Black Art,” is applied to the jugglery of con¬ 
jurers and wizards who profess to have dealings with the devil. 

The wave-crests in Killarney Lake, Ireland, are called by the fisher¬ 
men the “white horses of O’Donoughue,” from a chieftain of that ilk 
w T ho perished in its waters. 

The proper name of Confucius was “Kong,” but his followers added, 
“fu-tse,” meaning master or teacher. His books are regarded by the 
Chinese as the fountain of all wisdom. 

Davy Jones is a sailor’s familiar name for a malignant sea-spirit or 
the devil generally. The common phrase “Davy Jones’ locker” is 
applied to the ocean as the grave of men drowned at sea. 

In all ancient mythologies the sneeze is significant. If a Hindoo, 
while performing his morning ablutions in the Ganges, should sneeze 
before finishing his prayers, he immediately begins them over again. 

It was at one time a common belief that infants were sometimes 
taken from their cradles by fairies, who left instead their own weakly 
and starveling elves. The children so left were called 1 ‘ changelings. ’ ’ 

In the northern mythology the Walkyri are either nine or three 
times nine divine maidens who cleave their way through air and water 
to lead to Odin those who have fallen in battle and who are worthy of 
Walhalla. 

Dagon, the national god of the Philistines, half-man, half-fish, is 
mentioned in the Old Testament as having temples at Gaza and Ashdod, 
Several names of places prove that the worship of Dagon existed also in 
other parts of Palestine. 

The supposed spirits wdiich pervade the stars, each star having its 
own spirit (or soul), are termed astral spirits. Paracelsus taught that 
every human being had an astral spirit; hence the influence of a per¬ 
son’s particular star on his life. 

According to the ancient German superstition, the werewolf was a 
man-wolf, w T lio had the form of a man by day and that of a wolf by 
night. Lycanthropy, or wolf-madness, was prevalent in Europe, and 
especially in Germany, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 

The name of the favorite charger of Alexander the Great was Buceph¬ 
alus, and this was probably also the name of a peculiar breed of horses 
in Thessaly. The young hero was the first to break in the steed, and 
thus fulfilled the condition stated by an oracle as necessary for gaining 
the crown of Macedon. 


MYTHOLOGY AND FOLK-LORE . 


127 


Cynosure is the Greek name for the constellation of the Little Bear, 
which contains the pole star, by which the Phoenician mariners steered 
their course. The name is metaphorically applied to anything that 
attracts attention, or to which all eyes are turned. 

The Scottish brownie has a rival in Spain who is called the Ancho, 
and who haunts the shepherds’ huts, warms himself at their fires, tastes 
their clotted milk and cheese, converses with the family, and is treated 
with familiarity mixed with terror. The Ancho hates church bells. 

Sibylline books in Roman history contained the prophecies of the 
Cumaean Sibyl, bought by Tarquin the Proud, and preserved in the temple 
°f Jupiter Capitolinus, with w 7 hich they were burnt, 83 b. c. They were 
consulted by order of the senate, in cases of prodigies and calamities. 

An amulet was any object worn as a charm. It is often a stone, or 
a piece of metal, w ith an inscription or some figures engraved on it, and 
is generally suspended from the neck, and worn as a preservative against 
sickness or witchcraft. Its origin, like its name, seems to be oriental. 

The cockatrice is a fabulous monster, often confounded with the 
basilisk and regarded as possessing similar deadly powers. To the charms 
of the basilisk it added a dragon’s tail, armed with a sting; and it shared 
also its pow r er of destroying by a glance, so often referred to in Shakes¬ 
peare and other early writers. 

Cuneiform is a term descriptive of a form of writing of which the 
component parts resemble a wedge. It was used by the peoples of 
Babylonia, Assyria and other ancient nations, and was inscribed upon 
stone, bronze, iron, glass and clay. It was not until the seventeenth 
century that the wedge-shaped characters were suspected to be other than 
“idle fancies of the architects.” 

The talisman was a species of charm, consisting of a figure engraved 
on metal or stone wdien two planets are in conjunction, or when a star is 
at its culminating point, and supposed to exert some protective influence 
over the wearer of it. The terms talisman and amulet are often consid¬ 
ered nearly synonymous, but the proper distinctive peculiarity of the 
former is its astrological character. 

Arthur’s Round Table contained seats for one hundred and fifty- 
knights. Three were reserved, tw 7 o for honor, and one (called the “siege 
perilous’’) for Sir Galahad, destined to achieve the quest of the sangreal. 
If any one else attempted to sit in it, his death was the certain penalty. 
The table shown visitors at Winchester is one of several claimed to be 
the “original” Arthur's Round Table. 

In the fanciful system of the Paracelsists the Undines were female 
water-sprites. They intermarry readily with human beings, and the 
Undine who gives birth to a child under such a union receives, with her 
babe, a human soul. But the man. who takes an Undine to wife must be 
careful not to go on the water with her, or at least must not vex her 
while there, or she returns to her native element. 

Isis was an Egyptian goddess. The deities of ancient Egypt might 
be male or female, but in neither case could the Egyptian worshipper 
conceive a deity as existing in isolation: to every deity of either sex 
there must be a counterpart of the other sex. It was to this notion that 
the goddess Isis owed her origin; she was the counterpart of Osiris, and 
this fact is expressed in the statement that she was at once wife and sis¬ 
ter of Osiris. 



128 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


In classical antiquities the cornucopia, the horn or symbol of plenty, 
is placed in the hands of emblematical figures of Plenty, Liberality, and 
the like, who are represented as pouring from it an abundance of fruits 
or corn. It is frequently used in architecture, sculpture and heraldry. 

A redoubtable hero was Berserker in the Scandinavian mythology. 
He was the father of twelve sons who inherited the name of Berserker, 
together with his frenzied w r ar-like fury or “berserker rage.” Baring 
Gould connects the name with the were-wolf myth. It literally means 
“bear-sark” (shirt), not “ bare-shirt. ” 

The word hippodrome is derived from the Greek hippos , “a horse,” 
and dromos, “a racecourse,” and is the Greek name for the place set 
apart for horse and chariot races. Its dimensions were, according to the 
common opinion, half a mile in length, and one-eighth of a mile in 
breadth. In construction and all the most important points of arrange¬ 
ment it was the counterpart of the Roman Circus. 

The circus original^ w T as an open oblong building for Roman enter¬ 
tainments. There were eight in Rome, the largest being the Circtts 
Maximus, said to be 9,331^ feet long and 2,187 feet wide, and able to seat 
260,000 persons. There were held in them horse and chariot races, gym¬ 
nastic contests, the Trojan games, and contests with wild beasts. The 
modern circus is so universally known as to need no description. 

Befana is a kind of Santa Klaus, who visits children on Twelfth 
Night to put presents in a stocking hung at their bed. Befana, it is said, 
was an old woman busy cleaning her house when the Magi passed by, 
but she said she would look out for them on their return. As they w r ent 
home another way, she is looking out for them still, but entertains a 
great fondness for young children. The word is a corruption of “Epi- 
phania” (Epiphany.) 

The tall, narrow circular towers—called round towers—tapering grad¬ 
ually from the base to the summit, found abundantly in Ireland, and 
occasionally in Scotland, are among the earliest and most remarkable 
relics of the ecclesiastical architecture of the British Islands. They 
have long been the subject of conjecture and speculation, but there can 
be now no doubt that they are the work of Christian architects, and 
built for religious purposes. 

Walhalla is the place of residence for the fallen in battle in Scandina¬ 
vian Mythology. The name Walhalla was given to a magnificent 
marble structure of nearly the same proportions as the Parthenon, erected 
by Ludwig I. of Bavaria (1830-41) as a temple of fame for all Germany, 
on an eminence two hundred and fifty feet above the Danube, near Ratis- 
bon. By means of statues, busts, reliefs, and tablets the mythology and 
history of Germany are illustrated, and her greatest names commemor' 
ated. 

Thule w r as the name given by ancient Greeks and Romans to the 
most remote northern portion of the world then known. Whether an 
island or part of a continent nobody knows. It is first mentioned by 
Pytheas, the Greek navigator, who says it is “six days’ sail from Britain,” 
and that its climate is a “mixture of earth, air and sea.” Ptolemy, 
with more exactitude, tells us that the 63° of north latitude runs through 
the middle of Thule, and adds that “the days there are at the equinoxes 
Of] twenty-four hours long.” This, of course is a blunder, but the 
latitude would do roughly for Iceland. 


MYTHOLOGY AND FOLK-LORE. 


129 


The sacred geese were kept by the ancient Romans in the temple of 
Juno on the Capitoline Hill. These geese are especially noted in Roman 
story, because when a party of Gauls climbed stealthily up the steep 
rock unobserved by the sentinels, and even without disturbing the 
watch-dogs, the geese gave the alarm by their cackling, and Manlius, 
being aroused, reached the rampart just in time to push over the foremost 
Gaul, and thus saved the capitol. 

Idris was a mythical figure in Welsh tradition, supposed to have been 
at once a giant, a prince and an astronomer. On the summit of Cader 
Idris in Merionethshire may be seen his rock-hewn chair, and an 
ancient tradition told that any Welsh bard who should pass the night 
upon it would be found the next morning either dead, mad, or endowed 
with supernatural poetic inspiration. This tradition forms the subject of 
a fine poem by Mrs. Hemans; the gigantic size of the chair is alluded to 
in Tennyson’s “Geraint and Enid.” 

The name of Bucentaur was that of the state-galley in which the 
former Doges of Venice used to sail out every year on Ascension Day, 
amid great festivities, in order, by sinking a ring into the sea, to wed it 
in token of perpetual sovereignty. The w r ord signifies a monstrous figure 
of half bull half man, such as may originally have been depicted on the 
vessel. The ceremony was already in use in the thirteenth century ; in 
1798 the last Bucentaur, built in 1722-29, was burned by the French, but 
some portions, spared for their gold work, are still preserved in the 
arsenal. 

The Griffin is a chimerical creature, and first mentioned by Aristeas 
about 500 b. c. Ihe griffin is variously described and represented, but 
the shape in which it most frequently appears is that of a cross between 
a lion and an eagle, having the body and legs of the former, with the 
beak and wings of the latter, and the addition of pointed ears. Sometimes 
the four legs are all like those of an eagle, and the head is that of a cock. 
The figure seems to have originated in the East, as it is found in ancient 
Persian sculptures. Amongst the Greeks it appears on antique coins, and 
as an ornament in classical architecture. 

Nectar is the name given by Homer, Hesiod, Pindar and the Greek 
poets generally, and by the Romans, to the beverage of the gods, their 
food being called Ambrosia. But Sappho and Aleman make nectar the 
food of the gods and ambrosia their drink. Homer describes nectar as 
resembling red wine, and represents its continued use as causing immor¬ 
tality. By the later poets nectar and ambrosia are represented as of most 
delicious odor; and sprinkling with nectar or anointing with ambrosia is 
spoken of as conferring perpetual youth, and they are assumed as the 
symbols of everything most delightful to the taste. 

Vishnu, “ the Preserver, ” is the second god of the Hindu triad, now 
the most worshipped of all Hindu gods. Originally in th,e oldest Vedas 
a sun-god, he gradually increased in influence at the expense of other 
gods, and in the later Purana is the supreme god. Always a friendly 
god, he became specially the friend and benefactor of man in his avatars 
or incarnations. The Vishnuite doctrines were gathered into one body 
in the eleventh century as the Vishnu-Purdna. Of twenty principal 
sects and a hundred minor brotherhoods some are merely local, others 
are wealthy bodies and wide-spread, and one has grown into a warlike 
nation, the Jains. 

U. I—9 


130 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Damon and Pythias, two noble Pythagoreans of Syracuse, are re¬ 
membered as the models of faithful friendship. Pythias having been 
condemned to death by the elder Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, 
begged to be allowed to go home, for the purpose of arranging his 
domestic affairs, Damon pledging his own life for the reappearance of 
his friend at the time appointed for his doom. Dionysius consented, and 
Pythias returned just in time to save Damon from death. Struck by so 
noble an example of mutual affection, the tyrant pardoned Pythias, 
and desired to be admitted into their sacred fellowship. 

The Sacred Ibis was one of the birds worshipped by the ancient 
Egyptians, and was supposed, from the color of its feathers, to symbolize 
the light and shade of the moon. Its feathers were supposed to scare- 
and even kill the crocodile. It appeared in Egypt at the rise and disap, 
peared at the inundation of the Nile, and was said to deliver Egypt from 
the winged and other serpents which came from Arabia. As it did not 
make its nest in Egypt it was believed to be self-engendering, and to lay 
eggs for a lunar month. It was celebrated for its purity, and only drank 
from the purest water; besides which, it w r as fabled to entertain the most 
invincible love of Egypt, and to die of self-starvation if transported else¬ 
where. 

Avery engaging though mythical creature is the “brownie”, which 
in Scottish rural districts is believed to assist in the housew T ork at nights. 
The brownie is good tempered and industrious, but has a great objection 
to slovenliness and marks his sense of neglect by pinching slatternly 
maids. Good housewives leave out a bowl of milk for him. If the farm 
changed hands the brownie usually left, which may explain why there 
are none now. The resemblance of the Scotch brownie to the Robin 
Goodfellow, of English, and the Kobold of German folklore is obvious, 
but perhaps they may be traced further to the lares or hearth spirits of 
the ancients. The Russian domovoy, Mr. Ralston tells us, lives behind 
the stove, and in some families a portion of the supper is always set aside 
for him; for if he is neglected he waxes wroth and knocks the tables and 
benches about at night. Spirits with the same functions elsewhere are 
the Lithuanian kanka, the Finnish paara, and the French lutin. 

Here and there in the highways and byways of the w r orld many 
legends and superstitions still linger and continue to retain their ancient 
prestige. In Galicia, the province northeast of Hungary, the peasants 
believe that when a star falls to earth it is at once transformed into a 
rarely beautiful woman with long hair, blonde and glittering. This 
splendid creature, miraculously engendered, exercises on all who come 
in contact with her a magical influence. Every handsome youth unfor¬ 
tunate enough to attract her attention becomes her victim. Thus having 
allured them to her, she encircles them with her arms in an embrace 
that becomes gradually tighter and tighter until the poor dupes are 
strangled to death. If certain words are murmured the moment the star 
starts to fall, they cause her allurements to lose their power. From this 
superstition springs the custom of wishing, while a star is seen hurrying 
through the air, a wish said surely to come true if completely for¬ 
mulated before the light is extinguished. The Spaniards saw in the 
falling stars the souls of their dead friends, the thread of whose exist¬ 
ence was cut short by destiny. The Arabs thought these stars to be burn¬ 
ing stones thrown by the angels onto the heads of devils who attempted 
to enter paradise. 


MYTHOLOGY AND FOLK-LORE. 


131 


Hecatomb, in the worship of the Greeks, and in other ancient reli¬ 
gions, meant a sacrifice of a large number of victims, properly, although 
by no means necessarily, one hundred. As early as the time of Homer 
it was usual only to burn the legs wrapped up in the fat and certain 
parts of the intestines, the rest of the victim being eaten at the festive 
meal after the sacrifice. In Athens the hecatomb was a most popular 
form of sacrifice; while the thrifty Spartans, on the contrary, limited the 
number both of the victims and of the sacrifices. In the hecatomb, 
strictly so called, the sacrifice was supposed to consist of one hundred 
bulls, but other animals were frequently substituted. 

Belief in witches has caused the death of thousands of innocent per¬ 
sons in almost all countries. In England alone it is computed that 
thirty thousand persons -were burned at the stake for witchcraft. The 
witchcraft frenzy rose to its height in the reign of James I., who wrote a 
book on demonology. It revived under the Long Parliament, when 
Matthew Hopkins, the witch-finder, plied his trade (1645-7). Executions 
for witchcraft were prohibited by an edict of Louis XIV. in 1670. At 
Salem, New England, in 1692, nineteen persons were hanged by the 
Puritans for witchcraft. The last execution for witchcraft in England 
was that of Mrs. Hicks and her daughter, aged nine, who were hanged 
at Huntingdon in 1716. The last execution in Scotland w T as at Dornoch 
in 1722. The laws against witchetaft w r ere repealed in 1736. The last 
witch was officially tried and executed in 1793 in Posen. 


STORY OF THE NIBELUNGEN LIED. 

This famous historic poem, which is called the Iliad of Germany, 
was produced about 1210, and is divided into two parts, and thirty-two 
lieds or cantos. The first part ends with the death of Siegfried, and the 
second part with the death of Kriemhild. 

Siegfried, the youngest of the kings of the Netherlands, went to 
Worms, to crave the hand of Kriemhild in marriage. While he was stay¬ 
ing with Gunther, king of Burgundy (the lady’s brother), he assisted him 
to obtain in marriage Brunhild, queen of Issland, who announced pub¬ 
licly that he only should be her husband who could beat her in hurling 
a spear, throwing a huge stone, and in leaping. Siegfried, who possessed 
a cloak of invisibility, aided Gunther in these three contests, and Brun¬ 
hild became his wife. In return for these services Gunther gave Sieg¬ 
fried his sister Kriemhild in marriage. After a time the bride and bride¬ 
groom went to visit Gunther, when the two ladies disputed about the 
relative merits of their respective husbands, and Kriemhild, to exalt 
Siegfried, boasted that Gunther owed to him his victories and his wife. 
Brunhild, in great anger, now employed Hagan to murder Siegfried, and 
this he did by stabbing him in the back while he was drinking from 
a brook. 

Thirteen years elapsed, and the widow married Etzel, king of the 
Huns. After a time she invited Brunhild and Hagan to a visit. Hagan, 
in this visit, killed Etzel’s young son, and Kriemhild was like a fury. A 
battle ensued, in which Gunther and Hagan were made prisoners, and 
Kriemhild cut off both their heads with her own hand. Hildebrand, 
horrified at this act of blood, slew Kriemhild; and so the poem ends.— 
Authors unknown (but the story was pieced together by the minnesingers.) 

The “Volsunga Saga” isthe Icelandic version of the “Nibelungen 
Lied. ” This saga has been translated into English by William Morris. 



132 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The “Nibelungen Lied” lias been ascribed to Heinrich von Ofterdingen, 
a minnesinger; but it certainly existed before that epoch, if not as a com¬ 
plete whole, in separate lays, and all that Heinrich-von Ofterdingen 
could have done was to collect the floating lays, connect them, and form 
them into a complete story. 

THE SAGAS OF THE NORSEMEN. 

‘ ‘Edda’ ’ was the name of the Bible of the ancient Scandinavians. A 
saga is a book of instruction, generally, but not always, in the form of a 
tale,like a Welsh “mabinogi.” In the “Edda” there are numerous sagas. 
As our Bible contains the history of the Jews, religious songs, moral prov¬ 
erbs,and religious stories,so the “Edda” contained the history of Norway, 
religious songs, a book of proverbs and numerous stories. The original 
“Edda” was compiled and edited by SsemunSigfusson, an Icelandic priest 
and scald, in the eleventh century. It contains twenty-eight parts or 
books, all of which are in verse. 

Two hundred years later, Snorro Sturleson, of Iceland, abridged, re¬ 
arranged, and reduced to prose the “Edda, ’ ’ giving the various parts a kind 
of dramatic form, like the dialogues of Plato. It then became needful to 
distinguish these two works; so the old poetical compilation is called the 
‘ ‘Elder’ ’or‘ ‘Rhythmical Edda, ’’and sometimes the ‘ ‘Scetnund Edda” while 
the mor6 modern work is called the “Younger”or ‘ ‘Prose Edda’ ’ and some¬ 
times the ‘‘Snorro Edda.” The ‘‘Younger Edda” is,however, partly origi¬ 
nal. Pt.i. is the old ‘‘Edda” reduced to prose,but pt. ii.is Sturleson’sown 
collection. This part contains ‘‘The discourse of Bfagi” (the scald of the 
gods) on the origin of poetry; and here, too, we find the famous story called 
by the Germans ‘‘Nibelungen Lied.” Besides the sagas contained in the 
“Eddas,” there are numerous others. Indeed, the whole saga literature 
extends over two hundred volumes. 


RIP VAN WINKLE AND OTHER SLEEPERS. 

Almost all nations have a tradition about some sleeper, who will wake 
after a long period of dormancy. Of these the best known to us is Rip 
Van Winkle, who, according to the legend (Washington Irving’s ver¬ 
sion), was a Dutch colonist of New York, who met a strange man in a 
ravine of the Kaatskill Mountains. Rip helped the stranger to carry a 
keg to a wild glen among rocks, where he .saw a host of strange person¬ 
ages playing skittles in mysterious silence. Rip took the first opportu¬ 
nity of tasting the keg, fell into a stupor and slept for twenty years. On 
■waking he found that his wife was dead and buried, his daughter married, 
his village remodelled, and America had become independent. 

Epimenides the Gnostic slept for fifty-seven years. 

Nourjahad, wife of the Mogul emperor Geangir, who discovered the 
otto of roses. 

Gyneth slept five hundred years, by the enchantment of Merlin. 

The seven sleepers slept for two hundred and fifty years in Mt. Celion. 

St. David slept for seven years. 

The following are not dead, but only sleep till the fullness of their re¬ 
spective times: Elijah, Endymion, Merlin, King Arthur, Charlemagne, 
P'rederick Barbarossa and his knights, the three Tells, Desmond of Kil- 
mallock, Thomas of Erceldoune, Bobadil el Chico, Brian Boroimhe, Knez 
Lazar, King Sebastian of Portugal, Olaf Tryggvason, the French slain in 
the Sicilian Vespers, and one or two others. 




MYTHOLOGY AND FOLK-LORE. 


133 


INDIAN FOLK LORE. 

As a specimen of the folk-lore of our own aborigines none can sur¬ 
pass in interest the story of Hiawatha, the prophet-teacher, son of Mud- 
jekeewis {the west wind.) and Wenonah daughter of Nokomis. He 
represents the progress of civilization among the North American Indians. 
Hiawatha first wrestled with Mondamin {maize), and having subdued 
it, gave it to man for food. He then taught man navigation; then he sub¬ 
dued Mishe Nahma {the sturgeon), and taught the Indians how to make 
oil therefrom for winter. His next exploit was against the magician 
Megissognon, the author of disease and death; having slain this mon¬ 
ster, he taught men the science of medicine. He then married Minne¬ 
haha {laughing water), and taught man to be the husband of one wife, 
and the comforts of domestic peace. Lastly, he taught man picture¬ 
writing. When the white men came with the gospel, Hiawatha ascended 
to the kingdom of Ponemah, the land of the hereafter. Among many 
other accomplishments when Hiawatha put on his moccasins, he could 
measure a mile at a single stride. 

He had moccasins enchanted, 

Magic moccasins of deer-skin; 

When he bound them round his ankles 
At each stride a mile he measured! 

—Eongfellow, Hiawatha , iv. 


THE LANGUAGE OF GEMS. 

Amethyst.—P eace of mind. Regarded by the ancients as having 
the power to dispel drunkenness. 

BEOODSTONE.—I mourn your absence. Worn by the ancients as an 
amulet or charm, on account of the medicinal and magical virtues it was 
supposed to possess. 

Diamond. —Pride. Awarded supernatural qualities from the most 
remote period down to the Middle Ages. Has the power of making men 
courageous and magnanimous. Protects from evil spirits. Influences 
the gods to take pity upon mortals. Maintains concord between hus¬ 
band and wife, and for this reason was held as the most appropriate 
stone for the espousal ring. 

Emeraed. —Success in love. Mentioned in the Bible as worn in the 
breast plate of the High Priest as an emblem of chastity. 

Ruby. —A cheerful mind. An amulet against poison, sadness, evil 
thoughts. A preservative of health. Admonishes the wearer of impend¬ 
ing danger by changing color. 

Sapphire.— Chastity. Procures favor with princes. Frees from 
enchantment. Prevents impure thoughts. 

Topaz.— Fidelity. Calms the passions. 

Turquoise. —Success and happiness. Preserves from contagion. 

Garnet.— Fidelity in every engagement. Onyx.—Reciprocal love. 
Opal.—Pure thoughts. Pearl.—Purity and innocence. 


THE GIFT OF SECOND SIGHT. 

Second-sight, a gift of prophetic vision, was long supposed in the 
Scottish Highlands and elsewhere to belong to particular persons. The 
most common form it took was to see the wraith, fetch, or shadowy sec¬ 
ond self of some person soon to die, often wrapped in a shroud, or at¬ 
tended with some other of the special circumstances of death or burial. 




134 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMA TION. 


Of course the prophetic character may easily enough have been a mere 
additional assumption, the time of occurrence of distant events being apt 
to be confused with the time of hearing of them. In the popular mind 
everywhere the mystery of death, and the instinctive human longing to 
believe in a continuity of conscious spiritual life and sympathy, have gen¬ 
erated a belief in the probability of an appearance coinciding v.ith, or 
soon succeeding, the death of an individual; and from this the step is 
easy to a belief in the possibility of similar appearances before death, in 
order to foreshadow or forewarn. 


OLYMPIAN DEITIES AND HEROES. 


Acha'tes. The trusty friend of iEneas. 

Ach eron. The son of Sol and Terra, 
changed by Jupiter into a river of hell. 
Used also for hell itself. 

Achii/les. A Greek who signalized him¬ 
self in the war against Troy. Having 
been dipped by his mother in the river 
Styx, he was invulnerable in every part 
except his right heel, but was at length 
killed by Paris with an arrow. 

Acti on. A famous hunter, who, having 
surprised Diana as she was bathing, was 
turned by her into a stag and killed by 
his own dogs. 

Ado nis. A beautiful youth beloved by 
Venus and Proserpine. He was killed 
by a wild boar. When wounded, Venus 
sprinkled nectar into his blood, from 
which flowers sprang up, 

AJge'us. A king of Athens, giving name 
to the Aegean Sea by drowning himself 
in it. 

JZ gis. A shield given by Jupiter to Mi¬ 
nerva. Also the name of a Gorgon whom 
Pallas slew. 

AJne'as. A Trojan prince, son of Anchises 
and Venus; the heroe of Virgil’s poem, 
the “A^neid.” 

JE olus. The god of the winds. 

AJsculaTius. The god of medicine and 
the son of Apollo. Killed by Jupiter with 
a thunderbolt for having restored Hip- 
poly tus to life. 

Agamem'non. King of Mycenae and Ar¬ 
gos, brother to Menelaus, and chosen 
captain-general of the Greeks at the 
siege of Troy. 

A jax. Next to Achilles, the bravest of all 
the Greeks in the Trojan war. 

Al'bion. The son of Neptune; went into 
Britain and established a kingdom. 

Alces te, or Alcestis. The daughter of 
Pelias and wife of Admetus, brought 
back from hell by Hercules. 

Amphi'on. A famous musician, the son of 
Jupiter and Antiope, who built the city 
of Thebes by the music of his harp. He 
and his brother Zethus are said to have 
invented music. 

Amphitri te. Goddess of the sea and 
wife of Neptune. 

Androm ache. Wife of Hector. 

Androm'eda. The daughter of Cepheus 
and Cassiopeia, who, contesting with 
uno and the Nereides for the prize of 
eauty, was bound to a rock by them 


and exposed to a sea monster, but was 
rescued and married by Perseus. 

Antig'one. The daughter of CEdipus and 
Jocasta, famous for her filial piety. 

A pis. Son of Jupiter and Niobe; called 
also Serapis and Osiris. Taught the 
Egyptians to sow corn and plant vines, 
and worshipped by them in the form of 
an ox. 

Apol lo. The son of Jupiter and Latona, 
and the god of music, poetry, eloquence, 
medicine and the fine arts. 

Arach'ne. A Lydian princess, turned 
into a spider for contending with Mi¬ 
nerva at spinning. 

Arethu sa. One of Diana’s nymphs, who 
was changed into a fountain. 

Ar gus. The son of Aristor; said to have 
had a hundred eyes; but being killed by 
Mercury when appointed by Juno to 
guard Io, she put his eyes on the tail of 
a peacock. Also an architect, who built 
the ship Argo. 

Ariad ne. The daughter of Minos, who, 
from love to Theseus, gave him a clew 
of thread to guide him out of the Cretan 
labyrinth; being afterward deserted by 
him, she was married to Bacchus and 
made his priestess. 

Ari on. A lyric poet of Methymna, who, 
in his voyage to Italy, saved his life from 
the cruelty of the mariners by means of 
dolphins, which the sweetness of his 
music brought together. 

Atalan'ta. A princess of Scyros, who 
consented to marry that one of her suit¬ 
ors who should outrun her, Hippomenes 
being the successful competitor. 

At las. One ot the Titans and king of 
Mauretania; said to have supported the 
world on his shoulders; he was turned 
into a mountain by Perseus. 

Auro ra. The goddess of morning. 

Bac chus. The son of Jupiter and Semele 
and the god of wine. 

Beller ophon. The son of Glaucus, king 
of Ephyra. He underwent numerous 
hardships for refusing an intimacy with 
Sthenoboea, wife of Proetus, the king of 
Argos. With the aid of the horse Pegasus 
he destroyed the Chimera. 

Bello na. Goddess of war; sister of 
Mars. 

Bereni ce. A Grecian lady; the only per¬ 
son of her sex permitted to see the Olym¬ 
pic games. 





MYTHOLOGY AND FOLK-LORE. 


135 


BO REAS. The son of Astrceus and Aurora; 
the name of the north wind. 

Bria reus. A giant who warred against 
heaven, and was feigned to have had 
fifty heads and one hundred arms. 

Busi ris. The son of Neptune; a tyrant of 
Egypt and a monstrous giant, who fed 
his horses with human flesh; was killed 
by Hercules. 

Cad'mus. The son of Agenor, king of 
Phoenicia; founder of Thebes and the 
reputed inventor of sixteen letters of the 
Greek alphabet. 

Caduceus. Mercurjr’s golden rod or 
wand. 

Calypso. One of the Oceanides, who 
reigned in the island of Ogygia, and 
entertained and became enamored of 
Ulysses. 

Cassan'dra. A daughter of Priam and 
Hecuba, endowed with the gift of proph¬ 
ecy by Apollo. 

Cas'tor. A son of Jupiter and Leda. He 
and his twin brother Pollux shared im¬ 
mortality alternately, and were formed 
into the constellation Gemini. 

Cen taurs. Children of Ixion, half men 
and half horses, inhabiting Thessaly, 
and vanquished by Theseus. 

Cer berus. The three-headed dog of Pluto, 
guarding the gates of hell. 

Ce res. The daughter of Saturn and Cy- 
bele, and goddess of agriculture. 

Cha ron. The son of Erebus and Nox, 
and ferryman of hell, who conducted 
the souls of the dead over the rivers Styx 
and Acheron. 

Charyb dis. A ravenous woman, turned 
by Jupiter into a very dangerous gulf or 
whirlpool on the coast of Sicily. 

Chi mera. A strange monster of Lycia, 
killed by Bellerophon. 

Cir ce. A noted enchantress. 

Clytemnes'tra. The faithless wife of 
Agamemnon, killed by her son Orestes. 

Co mus. The god of merriment. 

Cro cus. A young man enamored of the 
nymph Smilax, and changed into a 
flower. 

Crce sus. King of Lydia; the richest man 
of his time. 

Cu'pid. Son of Mars and Venus; the god 
of love 

Cyb'ele. The daughter of Coelus and 
Terra; wife of Saturn and mother of the 

gods- . , 

Cy clops. Vulcan’s workmen, giants who 
had only one eye in the middle of their 
foreheads; slam by Apollo in a pique 
against Jupiter. . . 

D^ed'alus. A most ingenious artificer of 
Athens, who formed the Cretan laby¬ 
rinth and invented the auger, axe, glue, 
plumb-line, saw, and masts and sails for 
ships. 

Dana'ides, or Be'lides. The fifty daugh¬ 
ters of Danaus, king of Argos, all of 
whom, except Hypermuestra, killed their 
husbands on the first night of their mar¬ 
riage, and were therefore doomed to 
draw water out of a deep well and eter¬ 
nally pour it into a cask full of holes. 


Daph ne. A nymph beloved by Apollo, 
the daughter of the River Peueus, 
changed into a laurel tree. 

Daph nis. A shepherd of Sicily and son 
of Mercury, educated by the nymphs 
and inspired by the Muses with the love 
of poetry. 

Dejani ra. Wife of Hercules, who killed 
herself in despair, because her husband 
burnt himself to avoid the torment occa¬ 
sioned by the poisoned shirt she had 
given him to regain his love. 

Del'phi. A city of Phocis, famous for a 
temple and an oracle of Apollo. 

Deuca'lion The son of Prometheus and 
king of Thessaly, who, with his wife 
Pyrrha, was preserved from the general 
deluge, and repeopled the world by 
throwing stones behind them, as di¬ 
rected by the oracle. 

Dian'a. Daughter of Jupiter and Latona 
and goddess of hunting, chastity and 
marriage. 

Di do. Founder and queen of Carthage; 
daughter of Belus and wife of Sichseus. 
According to Virgil, she entertained 
A3neas on his voyage to Italy, and burnt 
herself through despair because he left 
her. 

Diome'des. Son of Tydeus and king of 
/Etolia; gained great reputation at Troy, 
and, with Ulysses, carried off the Pal¬ 
ladium. 

Dry'ades. Nymphs of the woods. 

Ech o. The daughter of Aer, or Air, and 
Tellus, who pined away for love of Nar¬ 
cissus. 

Elec'tra. Daughter of Agamemnon and 
Clytemnestra; instigated her brother 
Orestes to revenge their father’s death 
upon their mother and /Egisthus. 

Elys ium. The happy residence of the 
virtuous after death. 

Encel'adus. Son of Titan and Terra and 
the strongest of the giants; conspired 
against Jupiter and attempted to scale 
heaven. 

Endym'ion. A shepherd and astronomer 
of Caria, condemned to a sleep of thirty 
years. 

Er'ebuS. The son of Chaos and Nox; an 
infernal deity. A river of hell, and often 
used by the poets for hell itself. 

Eumen'ides. A name of the Furies. 

Euro pa. The daughter of Agenor; car¬ 
ried by Jupiter, in the form of a white 
bull, into Crete. 

EuRY r/ ALus. A Peloponnesian chief in 
the Trojan war. Also a Trojan and a 
friend of Nisus, for whose loss /Eneas 
was inconsolable. 

Euryd ice. Wife of Orpheus; killed by a 
serpent on her marriage day. 

Evad ne. Daughter of Mars and Thebe; 
threw herself on the funeral pyre of her 
husband, Cataneus. 

Fates. Powerful goddesses, who pre¬ 
sided over the birth and the life of man¬ 
kind, were the three daughters of Nox 
and Erebus, named Clotho, Lachesis and 
Atropos. Clotho was supposed to hold 
the distaff, Lachesis to draw the thread 



/ 


136 MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


of human life, and Atropos to cut it 
off. 

Fau NT. Rural gods, described as having 
the legs, feet and ears of goats. 

Fau nus. Son of Mercury and Nox and 
father of the Fauni. 

Flo ra. The goddess of flowers. 

Fortu na. The goddess of fortune; said 
to be biind. 

Fur ies. The three daughters of Nox and 
Acheron, named Alecto, Tisiphone and 
Megaera, with hair composed of snakes, 
and armed with whips, chains, etc. 

Galate a. A sea-nj-mph, daughter of Ne- 
reus and Doris, passionately loved by 
Polyphemus. 

Gan ymede. The son of Tros, king of 
Troy, whom Jupiter, in the form of an 
eagle, snatched np and made his cup¬ 
bearer 

Gor dius. A husbandman, but afterward 
king of Phrygia, remarkable for tyiug a 
knot of cords, on which the empire of 
Asia depended, in so intricate a manner 
that Alexander, unable to unravel it, cut 
it asunder. 

Gor gons. The three daughters of Phor- 
cus aud Ceta, named Stheno, Euryale 
and Medusa. Their bodies were covered 
with impenetrable scales, their hair en¬ 
twined with serpents; they had only one 
eye betwixt them, and they could change 
into stones those whom they looked on. 

Gra ces. Three goddesses, Aglaia, Thalia 
and Euphrosyne, represented as beauti¬ 
ful, modest virgins, and constant attend¬ 
ants on Venus. 

Har pies. Winged monsters, daughters 
of Neptune aud Terra, named Aello, Ce- 
lseno and Ocypete, with the faces of vir¬ 
gins, the bodies of vultures and hands 
armed with claws. 

He be. The daughter of Juno; goddess of 
youth and Jupiter’s cup-bearer; ban¬ 
ished from heaven on account of an un¬ 
lucky fall. 

Hec tor. The son of Priam aud Hecuba; 
the most valiant of the Trojans, and 
slain by Achilles. 

Hec'uba. The wife of Priam, who tore 
her eyes out for the loss of her children. 

Hel ena, or Hel en. The wife of Mene- 
lseus and the most beautiful woman of 
her age, who, running away with Paris, 
occasioned the Trojan war. 

Her cules. The son of Jupiter and Alc- 
mena; the most famous hero of antiquity, 
remarkable for his great strength and 
numerous exploits. 

Hermi one. The daughter of Mars and 
Venus and wife of Cadmus; was changed 
into a serpent. Also, a daughter of Mene- 
lseus and Helena, married to Pyrrhus. 

He'ro. A beautiful woman of Sestos, in 
Thrace, and priestess of Venus, whom 
Leander of Abydos loved so tenderly 
that he swam over the Hellespont every 
night to see her; but he, at length, being 
unfortunately drowned, she threw her¬ 
self, in despair, into the sea. 

Hesperides. Three nymphs, iEgle, Are- 
thusa and Hesperethusa, daughters of 


Hesperus. They had a garden bearing 
golden apples, watched by a dragon, 
which Hercules slew and bore away the 
fruit. 

Hes'phrus. The sou of Japetus and 
brother to Atlas; changed i.ito the even¬ 
ing star. 

Hyacin'thus. A beautiful boy. beloved 
by Apollo and Zephyrus. The latter 
killed him, but Apollo changed the blood 
that was spilt into a flower called hya¬ 
cinth. 

Hy ades. Seven daughters of Atlas and 
Atthra, changed by Jupiter into seven 
stars. 

Hy dra. A celebrated monster, or ser¬ 
pent, with seven, or, according to some, 
fifty heads, which infested the Lake 
Lerua. It was killed by Hercules. 

Hy men. Sou of Bacchus and Venus, and 
god of marriage. 

Hyp erion. Sou of Coelus and Terra. 

Ica rius. Son of CEbalus; having received 
from Bacchus a bottle of wine, he went 
into Attica to showmen the use of it, but 
was thrown into a well by some shep¬ 
herds whom he had made drunk, 
and who thought he had given them 
poison. 

Ic arus. The son of Diedalus, who, flying 
with his father out of Crete into Sicily 
aud soaring too high, melted the wax of 
his wings and fell into the sea, thence 
called the Icarian sea. 

I o. The daughter of Inachus, turned by 
Jupiter into a white heifer, but after¬ 
ward resumed her former shape; was 
worshipped after her death by the Egyp¬ 
tians under the name of Isis. 

Iphigeni a. The daughter of Agamem¬ 
non and Clytemnestra, who, standing 
ready as a victim to be sacrificed to ap¬ 
pease the ire of Diana, was by that god¬ 
dess transformed into a white hart and 
made a priestess. 

I ris. The daughter of Thumas and Elec- 
tra; one of the Oceauides aud messenger 
and companion of Juno, who turned her 
into a rainbow. 

Ixi 'on. A king of Thessaly aud father of 
the Centaurs. He killed his own sister, 
and was punished by being fastened in 
hell to a wheel perpetually turning. 

Ja nus. The son of Apollo aud Creusa 
and first king of Italy, who, receiving 
the banished Saturn, was rewarded by 
him with the knowledge of husbandry 
and of things past aud future. 

JA’son. The leader of the Argonauts, who, 
with Medea’s help, obtained the golden 
fleece from Colchis. 

Ju no. The daughter of Saturn and Ops; 
sister and wife of Jupiter, the great 
queen of heaven aud of all the gods, and 
goddess of marriages and births. 

Ju piter, or Zeus. The sou of Saturn and 
Ops; the supreme deity of the heathen 
world, the most powerful of the gods and 
governor of all things. 

Laoc oon. A son of Priam and Hecuba 
and high priest of Apollo, who opposed 
the reception of the wooden horse into 




MYTHOLOGY AND FOLK-LORE . 


137 


Troy, for which he and his two sons 
were killed by serpent^. 

Laom edon. A king of Troy, killed by 
Hercules for denying him his daughter 
Hesioue after he had delivered her from 
the sea-monster. 

La res. Inferior gods at Rome, who pre¬ 
sided over houses and families; sons of 
Mercury and Tara. 

Le the. A river of hell whose waters 
caused a total forgetfulness of things 
past. 

Lu cifer. The name of the planet Venus, 
or morning star; said to be the son of 
Jupiter and Aurora. 

Lu'na. The moon; the daughter of Hy¬ 
perion and Terra. 

IvUper c alia. Feasts in honor of Pan. 

Mars. The god of war. 

Mede a. The daughter of Ajtes and a 
wonderful sorceress or magician; she as¬ 
sisted Jason to obtain the golden fleece. 

Mem non. The son of Tithonus and Au¬ 
rora and king of Abydon; killed by 
Achilles for assisting Priam, and changed 
into a bird at the request of his mother. 

Menela us. The son of Atreus, king of 
Sparta; brother of Agamemnon and hus¬ 
band of Helen. 

Men tor. The faithful friend of Ulysses, 
the governor of Telemachus, and the 
wisest man of his time. 

Mer cory, or Hermfs. The son of Ju¬ 
piter and Maia; messenger of the gods, 
inventor of letters, and god of eloquence, 
commerce and robbers. 

Mi das. A king of Phrygia, who had the 
power given him of turning whatever he 
touched into gold. 

Miner va, or Pallas. The goddess of 
wisdom,the arts, and war; produced from 
Jupiter’s brain. 

Min otaur. A celebrated monster, half 
man and half bull. 

Mnemos yne. The goddess of memory, 
and mother of the nine Muses. 

Mo mus. The sou of Nox and god of folly 
and pleasantry. 

Mor pheus. The minister of Nox and 
Somnus, and god of sleep and dreams. 

Muses. Nine daughters of Jupiter and 
Mnemosyne, named Calliope, Clio, 
Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhym¬ 
nia, Terpsichore, Thalia and Urania. 
They were mistresses of all the sciences 
and governesses of the feasts of the gods. 

Mu ta. Goddess of silence. 

Na'iades. Nymphs of streams and fount¬ 
ains. 

Nafcis'SUS. A beautiful youth, who, fall¬ 
ing in love with his own reflection in the 
water, pined away into a daffodil. 

Nem esis. One of the infernal deities and 
goddess of revenge. 

Nep iune. The son of Saturn and Ops; 
god of the sea and, next to Jupiter, the 
most powerful deity. 

Nes'tor. The son of Neleus and Chloris 
and king of Pylos and Messenia. He 
fought against the Centaurs, was distin¬ 
guished In the Trojan war, and lived to 
a great age. 


Ni obe. Daughter of Tantalus and wife 
of Amphion, who, preferring herself to 
Latona, had her fourteen children killed 
by Diana and Apollo, and wept herselt 
into a stone. 

Nox. The most ancient of all the deities 
and goddess of night. 

Ocean ides. Sea-nymphs, daughters of 
Oceanus; three thousand in number. 

Oce'anus. An ancient sea-god. 

<Ed ipus. King of Thebes, who solved the 
riddle of the Sphinx, unwittingly killed 
his father, married his mother, and at 
last ran mad and tore out his eyes. 

Om'phale. A queen of Uydia, with whom 
Hercules was so enamored that he sub¬ 
mitted to spinning and other unbecom¬ 
ing offices. 

Ores tes. The son of Agamemnon. 

Or'phfus. A celebrated Argonaut, whose 
:-kill in music is said to have been so 
great that he could make rocks, trees, 
etc., follow him. He was the son of Ju¬ 
piter and Calliope. 

Palladium. A statue of Minerva, which 
the Trojans imagined fell from heaven, 
and with which their city was deemed 
unconquerable. 

Pan. The son of Mercury and the god of 
shepherds, huntsmen and the inhabi¬ 
tants of the country. 

Pandora. The first woman, made by 
Vulcan, and endowed with gifts by all 
the deities. Jupiter gave her a box 
which contained all the evils and miser¬ 
ies of life, but with hope at the bottom. 

Par'is, or Alexander. Son of Priam and 
Hecuba ; a most beautiful youth, who 
ran away with Helen, and thus occa¬ 
sioned the Trojan war. 

Parnas'sus. A mountain of Phocis famous 
for a temple of Apollo; the favorite resi¬ 
dence of the Muses. 

Peg' asus. A winged horse belonging to 
Apollo and the " Muses, which sprang 
from the blood of Medusa when Perseus 
cut off" her head. 

Pena'tes. Small statues, or household 
gods. 

Penel'ope. A celebrated princess of 
Greece, daughter of Icarus and wife of 
Ulysses; celebrated for her chastity and 
constancy in the long absence of her 
husband. 

Per seus. Son of Jupiter and Danae; per¬ 
formed many extraordinary exploits by 
means of Medusa’s head. 

Pha'eton. Son of Sol (Apollo) and Cli- 
mene. He asked the guidance of his 
father’s chariot for one day as a proof of 
his divine descent; but, unable to man¬ 
age the horses, set the world on fire, and 
was therefore struck by Jupiter with a 
thunderbolt into the River Po. 

Philome la. The daughter of Pandion, 
king of Athens; changed into a nightin¬ 
gale. 

Phin'eas. King of Paphlagonia; had his 
eyes torn out by Boreas, but -was recom¬ 
pensed with the knowledge of futurity. 
Also, a king of Thrace, turned into a 
stone by Perseus. 





138 


MANUAL OF USEFUL IN FORM A TION. 


Phce'bus. A title of Apollo. 

Ple iades. Seven daughters of Atlas and 
Pleione, changed into stars. 

Plu'to. The son of Saturn and Ops, 
brother of Jupiter and Neptune and the 
god of the infernal regions. 

Pomo na. The goddess of fruits and an- 
tumu. 

Pri'am. The last king of Troy, the son of 
Laomedon, under whose reign Troy was 
taken by the Greeks. 

Prome theus. The son of Japetus; said 
to have stolen fire from heaven to ani¬ 
mate two bodies which he had formed 
of clay, and was therefore chained by 
Jupiter to Mount Caucasus, with a vul¬ 
ture perpetually gnawing his liver. 

Pros erpine. Wife of Pluto. 

Pro teus. The son of Oceanus and Tethys; 
a sea-god and prophet, who possessed 
the power of changing himself into any 
shape. 

Psy che. A nymph beloved by Cupid and 
made immortal by Jupiter. 

Pyg mies. A nation of dwarfs only a span 
long, carried away by Hercules. 

Pyr'amus and Thisbe. Two lovers of 
Babylon, who killed themselves with 
the same sword, and thus caused 
the berriesof the mulberry tree, under 
which they died, to change from white 
to red. 

Pv thon A huge serpent, produced from 
the mud of the deluge; killed by Apollo, 
who, in memory thereof, instituted the 
Pythian games. 

Re mus. The elder brother of Romulus, 
killed by him for ridiculing the city 
walls. 

Rom ulus. The son of Mars Ilia; thrown 
into the Tiber by his uncle, but saved, 
with his twin brother, Remus, bva shep¬ 
herd; became the founder and first king 
of Rome. 

S't'urn. A son of Ccelus and Terra; god 
of time. 

Sat'yks. Attendants of Bacchus; horned 
monsters, half goats, half men. 

Semir'amis. A celebrated queen ot As¬ 
syria, who built the walls of Babylon; 
was slain by her own son Ninyas and 
turned into a pigeon. 

Sile'nus. The foster-father, master and 
companion of Bacchus. He lived in Ar¬ 
cadia, rode on an ass and was drunk 
every day. 

Si rens. Sea-nymphs, or sea-monsters, 


the daughters of Oceanus and Amphi- 
trite. 

Sis yphus. The son of AJolus; a most 
crafty prince, killed by Theseus and con¬ 
demned by Pluto to roll up hill a large 
stone, which constantly fell back again. 

Som'nus. The son of Erebus and Nox and 
the god of sleep. 

Sphinx. A monster who destroyed her¬ 
self because CEdipus solved the enigma 
she proposed. 

Sten'tor. A Grecian whose voice is re¬ 
ported to have been as strong and as 
loud as the voices of fifty men together. 

Styx. A river of hell. 

Sylvanus. A god of woods and forests. 

Ta'cita. A goddess of silence. 

Tan'talus. The son of Jupiter and king 
of Lydia, wdio served up the limbs of his 
son Pelops to try the divinity of the 
gods, for which he was plunged to the 
chin in a lake of hell and doomed to 
everlasting thirst and hunger. 

Tar tarus. The part of the infernal re¬ 
gions in which the wicked were pun¬ 
ished. 

Tau rus. The bull under whose form Ju¬ 
piter carried away Europa. 

Telem A( hus. The only son of Ulysses.’ 

Ti'tan. The son of Coelus and Terra, 
elder brother of Saturn and one of the 
giants who warred against heaven. 

Tri ton. The son of Neptune and Amphi- 
trite, a powerful sea-god and Neptune’s 
trumpeter. 

Troy. A city of Phrygia, famous for hold¬ 
ing out a siege of ten years against the 
Greeks, but finally captured and de¬ 
stroyed. 

Ulys ses. King of Ithaca, who, by his 
subtlety and eloquence, was eminently 
serviceable to the Greeks in the Trojan 
war. 

Ve nus, or Aphrodite. One of the most 
celebrated deities of the ancients, the 
wife of Vulcan, the goddess of beautv, 
the mother of love, and the mi .tress of 
the graces and of pleasures. 

Ves ta. The sister of Ceres and Juno, the 
goddess of fire and patroness of vestal 
virgins. 

Vulcan. The god who presided over 
subterraneous fire, patron of workers in 
metal. 

Zeph'yrus. The west wind, sou of Aeolus 
and Aurora and lover of the goddess 
Flora. 


ELYSIUM AND HADES. 

Elysium, among the Greeks and Romans, was the regions inhabited by the blessed 
after death. They are placed by Homer at the extremities of the earth, by Plato at 
the antipodes, and by others in the Fortunate Islands (the Canaries). They were at 
last transferred to the interior of the earth, which is Virgil’s notion. The happiness of 
the blessed consisted in a life of tranquil enjoyment in a perfect summer land, where 
the heroes, freed from all care and infirmities, renewed their favorite sports. 

Hades was originally the Greek name of the lord of the lower or invisible world, 
afterwards called Pluto; but in later times, as in the Greek Scriptures, it is applied to 
the region itself. With the ancients Hades was the common receptacle of departed 
spirits. 




INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE. 


Each climate needs what other climes produce, 

And offers something to the general use; 

No land but listens to the common call, 

And in return receives supply from all. 

—Cowper. 

FACTS AND CHANNELS OF TRADE. 

Envelopes were first used in 1839. 

The first lucifer match was made in 1829. 

First steamer crossed the Atlantic in 1819. 

The first horse railroad was built in 1826-7. 

The first newspaper advertisement was in 1652. 

The greatest grain port in the world is Chicago. 

Cork is the bark taken from a species of oak tree. 

Edward III. is called the Father of English commerce. 

The canning industry is making great headway in Georgia. 

There are 20,000,000 acres under cotton in the United States. 

Soap was first manufactured in England in the sixteenth century. 

First American express ran from New York to Boston—W. F. Ham¬ 
den’s. 

Until 1776 cotton spinning was performed by the hand spinning 
wheel. 

The first mill-stones sent over here from England paid £11 freight 
in 1628. 

Postage stamps first came into use in England in 1840; in this coun¬ 
try in 1847. 

The Wetherills of Philadelphia made white lead before the American 
Revolution. 

During 1891 there were 584 factories in this country engaged in the 
silk industry. 

Since 1840 the world’s production of meat has increased 57 per cent, 
that of grain 120 per cent. 

The exports of this country in the fiscal year 1891-2, amounted to 
$970,506,282; imports, $828,321,646. 

The largest number of whaling ships in the world is sent out by 
Nantucket and New Bedford, Mass. 

139 



140 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


Certificates for proficiency in commercial knowledge are now granted 
at Cambridge and Oxford universities. 

Ostrich taming is a very profitable industry in Africa, where it is 
computed there are over 150,000 tame birds. 

First sugar-cane in the United States was cultivated near New 
Orleans, 1751; first sugar mill was built in 1758. 

From August ’91 to August ’92 our cotton crop was reported at 9,035,- 
379 bales, an increase of 382,000 over previous year. 

The Harrisons, who figure so extensively in our manufactures, made 
oil of vitriol in Philadelphia in 1806, the first in the country. 

The leather industry in the United States was worth $130,000,000 in 
the administration of Gen. Taylor and employed 146,000 persons. 

Virginia led off just before the Constitution in putting a tariff on 
foreign leather and shoes, and Congress .soon followed the example. 

It is said to cost less to send the product of an acre of wheat from 
Dakota to England than it does to manure an acre of land in England 
so that it can grow good wheat. 

In 1860 Chicago had less than twelve millions of total products for 
all her factories, while today such factories as the Pullman works turn 
out that value of cars alone in a year. 

The name demurrage in mercantile law means the sum paid by the 
owner of a ship to the charterer for keeping the ship in port a longer 
time than that provided in the charter. 

According to Orfila, the proportion of nicotine in Havana tobacco is 
two percent; in French six per cent, and in Virginia tobacco seven per 
cent. That in Brazilian is still higher. 

The production of mercury reaches about 55,000 to 66,000 frascos a 
year. The frascos are enormous bottles of cast iron, which contain four 
arrobes of about twenty-five pounds each. 

The Cinchona tree is indigenous to Peru, and from it quinine is ex¬ 
tracted; it derives its name from the Countess of Chinchon, who was 
cured of fever by the bark (Peruvian bark). 

Paper making ranks high among the industries of the United States. 
East year there were about 1,100 mills in operation in this country, 
having an average capacity of about 16,000 pounds of paper. 

A new substance called valzin is now being manufactured in Berlin 
under a patent, and it is claimed to be two hundred times sweeter than 
sugar and free from certain objectionable properties of saccharin. 

A commission agent, or merchant, is a person employed to sell goods 
consigned or delivered to him by another who is called his principal, for 
a certain percentage, commonly called his commission or factorage. 

The world annually consumes about 650,000 tons of coffee. Esti¬ 
mating coffee as being worth about $400 per ton, which is about a good 
average, this represents an outlay of $260,000,000 for this one beverage 
each year. 

New Orleans boasts the largest custom-house in this or any other 
land. It w T as begun in 1848 and over thirty years elapsed before it was 
finished and ready for use. It is built of Quincy granite and the interior 
is finished in finest marble. It has 111 rooms. The height from the 


INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE . 


141 


pavement to the top of the cornice is 80 feet, and to the top of the 
light on the dome, 187 feet. The dome itself is 49 feet square and (31 
feet high. The estimated total cost of building, $4,900,000. 

Caviare is the salted roe of the common sturgeon and other fishes of 
the same genus. It is esteemed by epicures as a delicacy, but the taste is 
purely an acquired one—hence the phrase, “caviare to the multitude.” 

A commercial traveler is a person whose occupation is to transact 
business as the accredited traveling representative of a trading house to 
other trading houses. In this country he is commonly styled a “drum¬ 
mer. ’ ’ 

The latest authority puts the silk production of the world down at 
$320,000,000 worth of silk annually, of which France produces two-fifths 
of the whole, with her 230,000 looms. China and Japan grow one-half of 
all the raw silk. 

Clipper is a name familiarly given to a sailing ship built expressly 
for speed. Aberdeen was long celebrated for building swift tea-clippers, 
which since 1860 have been gradually superseded by steamers. The Bal¬ 
timore clippers were also famous. 

The Zollverein (“Customs Union”) was a union of the German States 
for fiscal purposes under the leadership of Prussia. The first step tow'ards 
its establishment was taken in 1818. It continued to exist until the Ger¬ 
man Empire was founded in 1871. 

In 1820 we made only 400 tons of white lead in the whole country, 
and at the end of the civil war we made 14,000 tons. A white lead manu¬ 
facturer of Cincinnati, Mr. Goshorn, was the President or Director-Gen¬ 
eral of the Philadelphia Exhibition. 

Customs duties are the portion of the revenue derived from a tax on 
imports. In some countries, customs duties are imposed on certain ex¬ 
ports also. Customs is the general term applying to the service of their 
collection, also to the amounts collected. 

One tug on the Mississippi can take in six days, from St. Louis to 
New Orleads, barges carrying 10,000 tons of grain, which would require 
seventy railway trains of fifteen cars each. Tugs in the Suez Canal tow 
a vessel from sea to sea in forty-four hours. 

The average annual production of flax is as follows: Russia, 270,000 
tons; Austria, 53,000; Germany, 48,000; Belgium and Holland, 38,000; 
France, 37,000; United Kingdom, 25,000; Italy, 23,000; United States, 
12,000; Scandinavia, 4,000 —total, 510,000 tons. 

Corundum is a mineral consisting essentially of mere alumina, yet 
of great specific gravity—about four times that of water—and of remark- 
ble hardness, being inferior in this respect only to the diamond. Miner¬ 
alogists regard the sapphire as a variety of corundum. 

Having imported some big cattle from Denmark, the Ingalls family 
of Lynn, near Boston, began a tannery about 1630, and a shoemaker fol¬ 
lowed in five years, and from these beginnings we record the vast shoe 
industry of Lynn, which has produced a Vice-President in Henry Wilson. 

The Alpaca is a half domesticated fawn of the wild vicuna, closely 
related to the llama. It somewhat resembles the sheep in form, but has 
a longer neck and a more elegant head. It is a native of the Andes. 
About fifty years ago the wool of the alpaca, which, if allowed to remain 
for some seasons grows to a great length, became a regular article of 


142 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


commerce. Sir Titus Salt, of England, was the first person to take steps 
toward raising the alpaca manufacture to its present status as a consider¬ 
able industry. Various attempts have been made to introduce the alpaca 
into the United States, but all have resulted in failure. 

There is a lake of pitch in the island of Trinidad about a mile and a 
half in circumference. While the asphaltum near the shores is sufficiently 
hard at most seasons to sustain men and quadrupeds, it grows soft and 
warm toward the center, and there it is in a boiling state. 

Rum is a kind of spirit made by fermenting and distilling the 
“sweets” that accrue in making sugar from cane-juice. The scummings 
from the sugar pans give the best rum that any particular plantation can 
produce; scummings and molasses the next quality; and molasses the 
lowest. 

Anthracite, called in America hard coal , as opposed to bituminous 
or soft coal , has its largest fields in Pennsylvania. It has only a small 
proportion of the constituents of bitumen and consists almost entirely of 
carbon. It burns nearly without smell, smoke or flame and gives out an 
intense heat. 

The Chamber of Commerce is a body of merchants, traders, bankers 
and others, associated for the purpose of promoting the interests of its 
own members, of the town or district to which the society belongs, and 
of the community generally, in so far as these have reference to trade and 
merchandise. 

The United States produces 2,220 pounds of grain to each inhabitant; 
Denmark, 2,005; Canada, 1,500; Russia, 1,200; Roumania, 1,150; Spain, 
1,100; France, 990; Sweden, 980; Argentine Republic, 850; Australia, 760; 
Germany, 700; Belgium, 600; Portugal, 550; Ireland, 500; Scotland, 490; 
England, 360. 

Disston sold his common saws for a profit of only seven cents on the 
dozen in order to underbid the English, who then controlled our market. 
Out of that manufacture the Disston boys have erected a whole town, and 
there is no man in Australia or the British Colonies that would not prefer 
the American saw to a foreign one. 

The ways of auctioneers in different parts of the world vary greatly. 
In England and America the seller bears the expense of the sale, but in 
France the purchaser pays the cost, five per cent being added to the price 
he pays. In Holland it is still worse, the buyer being required to pay 
ten per cent additional for the expenses of the sale. 

A Galleon was a large ship formerly used by the Spaniards to carry 
home the gold, silver, and other wealth contributed by the Mexican and 
South American colonies. They were armed, and had usually three or 
four decks, with bulwarks three or four feet thick, and stem and stern 
built up high like castles. They had a particular fascination for Drake 
and other Elizabethan rovers who so contrived that many of them never 
reached the ports of Spain. 

The blue pigments in common use by artists are few in number, and 
consist of native and Artificial Ultramarine, Cobalt, Indigo and Prussian 
Blue. Genuine ultramarine, prepared from the mineral lapis lazuli, and 
ordinary cobalt blue, sold for artists’ work, are permanent colors. They 
are used either alone, or mixed with other pigments, chiefly for skies and 
distances in landscape; and by themselves, or to make up grays and 
other mixed tints in figure painting. 


INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE . 


143 


The Mississippi river, from the source of the Missouri to the Eads 
jetties, is the longest river in the world. It is 4,300 miles in length and 
drains an area of 1,726,000 square miles. The Amazon, which is without 
doubt the widest river in the w ? orld, including the Beni, is 4,000 miles in 
length and drains 2,330,000 square miles of territory. 

The name bitumen is especially given to a mineral substance of a 
highly inflammable character, marked by a peculiar odor. It is gener¬ 
ally supposed to be a vegetable origin. The term is very broad in its 
use by mineralogists and by some is made to include the mineral resins, 
naphtha, petroleum, asphalt and mineral caoutchoue. 

Bricks and common pottery ware owe their red color to the iron 
naturally contained in the clay of which they are formed, the iron, by 
the action of the heat, being converted into red oxide of iron. Some 
varieties of clay, like that found near Milwaukee, contain little or no iron, 
and bricks made from such clay are consequently of a light yellow color.. 

Cura£oa is a well known and esteemed liqueur, usually made in 
Holland with the dried peel of the Cura^oa orange, the peel being 
macerated with water, and then distilled with spirit and water. The 
result is sweetened with sugar, and a little Jamaica rum is often added. 
A palatable imitation can be made from the fresh peel of bitter oranges 
and whisky. 

The fair of Nijni-Novgorod is the greatest in the world, the value of 
goods sold being as follows: 1841, $35,000,000; 1857, $60,000,000; 1876, 
$140,000,000; the attendance in the last named year including 150,000 
merchants from all parts of the world. In that of Eeipsic the annual 
average of sales is $20,000,000, comprising 20,000 tons of merchandise, 
of which two-fifths is books. 

Coastguard is the name of a British organization formerly intended 
merely to prevent smuggling, but now constituted so as to serve as a 
defensive force also. The old coastguardsmen were in the employment of 
the Customs department; they were posted along the shore at spots com¬ 
manding extensive views of the beach, and were expected to be always 
on the lookout for smugglers. In 1856 the coastguard was transferred to 
the Admiralty. 

Ambergris is a fatty substance supposed to be a morbid secretion in 
the intestinal canal of the spermaceti whale. It is found in lumps weigh¬ 
ing from half an ounce to one hundred pounds and upwards, either 
floating upon the sea or washed up on beaches. Often it is taken imme¬ 
diately from the wdiale. Ambergris is largely used in perfumery, and is 
worth about $30 an ounce. In general appearance it is like dirty, gray fat, 
with yellow or reddish striae. It contains little black spots, caused by the 
presence of the beaks of the sepia octopodia. Spec, gravity .780 to .920. 

In commerce and political economy Barter is the exchange of one 
commodity for another, as contrasted with the sale of commodities for 
money. It is simply a primitive form of exchange carried on in coun¬ 
tries in which the use of money has not yet been introduced or is not 
prevalent. It was an economic stage through which all communities 
must have passed. Even yet in many rude countries barter is very com¬ 
mon; and European travelers find it convenient to take with them weap¬ 
ons, tools and ornaments to exchange with the natives for their commod¬ 
ities. In civilized communities barter is a very exceptional thing, hav¬ 
ing been superseded by the use of money in various forms. 


144 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The much abused “potato bug” or Colorado beetle is an oval insect, 
half an inch long, its body of yellow color, spotted with black, with ten 
black longitudinal stripes on the elytra. It is a native of the Rocky 
Mountains. It is specially destructive to potato crops, and has at various 
times done great damage to those of the United States aud even managed 
to get into England and other countries. 

General Washington, in 1789, visited a mill at Hartford, Conn,, 
which made 5,000 yards of cloth and sold it at $5 a yard. Washington 
wrote in his diary: “Theirbroadcloths are not of the first quality as yet, 
but they are good, as are their cassinets, cassimeres, serges, and everlast¬ 
ings; of the broadcloth I ordered a suit to be sent to me at New York, 
and of the commoner goods a whole piece to make breeches for my serv¬ 
ants.” 

In the working of railways very important advantages have been 
reaped from what is now known as the “block-system.” The line is 
divided into a number of comparatively short sections, and no train is 
allewed to pass into a section till the signals at either end indicate that 
the section is entirely clear of other trains. The signals are directed by 
telegraph; and, if the system is strictly observed, collisions become im¬ 
possible. 

A viscid and adhesive substance which is placed on twigs of trees, 
or wire-netting, to catch the birds that may alight thereon, is thence 
called birdlime. It is generally prepared from the middle bark of the 
holly, mistletoe or distaff-thistle, by treating with water, boiling for sev¬ 
eral hours, straining and exposing to fermentation for several weeks. 
The result is a gelatinous mucilage, consisting mainly of a substance 
called viscin. 

The degrees of alcohol in wines and liquors are: Beer, 4.0; porter, 
4.5; ale, 7.4; cider, 8.6; Moselle, 9.6; Tokay, 10.2; Rhine, 11.0; Orange, 
11.2; Bordeaux, 11.5; hock, 11.6; gooseberry, 11.8; Champagne, 12.2; 
claret, 13.3; Burgundy, 13.6; Malaga, 17.3; Lisbon, 18.5; Canary, 18.8; 
sherry, 19.0; Vermouth, 19.0; Cape, 19.2; Malmsey, 19.7; Marsala, 20.2; 
Madeira, 21.0; port, 23.2; Cura^oa, 27.0; aniseed, 33.0; Maraschino, 34.0; 
Chartreuse, 43.0; gin, 51.6; brandy, 53.4; rum, 53.7; Irish whisky, 53.9; 
-Scotch, 54.3 

‘ ‘High seas” means the open sea, including the whole extent of sea so 
far as it is not the exclusive property of any particular country. The rule 
of international law is that every country bordering on the sea has the 
exclusive sovereignty over such sea to the extent of three miles from its 
shores; but all beyond, not within three miles of some other country, is 
open or common to all countries. The part of sea within three miles’ 
distance is generally called the territorial sea of the particular country, 
or mare clausum. 

Koumiss is an intoxicating beverage much esteemed by the Kal¬ 
mucks. It is made from the soured and fermented milk of mares, and 
has an acidulous taste. A spirit is obtained from it by distillation. The 
tribes which use koumiss are free from pulmonary phthisis, and the 
observation of this fact has led to the beneficial use of an artificial kou¬ 
miss made of ass’s and cow’s milk in cases of consumption. Of late ex¬ 
tensive establishments have been founded in the southeast of Russia for 
treating invalids with genuine koumiss; one at Samara is visited by fif¬ 
teen hundred patients in a season. 



INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE. 


145 


The Non-importation Act was passed by Congress on March 26,1806, 
to prohibit the importation of British manufactures into the United 
States. The immediate cause of this prohibition was the annoyance 
caused by the “Leander” cruising off New York, and insisting 
on searching American vessels under pretence of looking for desert¬ 
ers. In one of these searches an American sailor, named Pearce, was 
killed, and the hostility of the States, w T hich had long been smouldering, 
burst into a blaze. 

India rubber is obtained mostly from the Seringueros of the Amazon, 
who sell it for about 12 cents a pound to the merchants of Para, but its 
value on reaching England or the United States is over 50 cents a 
pound. The best rubber forests in Brazil will ultimately be exhausted, 
owing to the reckless mode followed by the Seringueros or tappers. 
The ordinary product of a tapper’s work is from 10 to 16 pounds daily. 
There are 120 india rubber manufacturers in the United States, employing 
15,000 operatives, who produce 280,000 tons of goods, valued at $260,000 
000, per annum. 

Amber is a substance analogous to the vegetable resins, usually of 
a pale-yellow color. It occurs in round, irregular lumps, grains or 
drops, slightly brittle and emits a plea.sant odor when rubbed. It melts 
at 536° F. Amber becomes negatively electric by friction, and possesses 
this property in a high degree—which, indeed, was first observed in it, 
and the term electricity is derived from elektron, the Greek name of 
amber. The specific gravity of amber is 1.065 to 1.070. Amber was 
anciently regarded as a charm against witchcraft. It is employed exten¬ 
sively in the arts, for the mouthpieces of pipes, for jewelry and other 
ornamental purposes. 

The name alcohol (Arab, al-koh'l , originally applied to a collyrium, 
a very fine powder of antimony for staining the eyelids; afterwards 
“essence,” “spirits”). Ordinary or ethyl alcohol is a limpid, colorless 
liquid, of a hot pungent taste, and having a slight but agreeable smell. 
It is the characteristic ingredient of fermented drinks, gives them their 
intoxicating quality, and is obtained from them by distillation. It is 
said to have been first obtained by this process by Abucasis, in the 
twelfth century. If we look at the extraordinary consumption of these 
liquors for various purposes, it is seen to be one of the most important 
substances produced by art. 

The overland route to India, Australia and the East, is now under¬ 
stood to be that from England across France, through Mont Cenis by 
tunnel, to Brindisi in Italy, thence through the Levant, the Suez Canal, 
Red Sea and Indian Ocean. This makes the journey only about half as 
long as the voyage round by the Cape of Good Hope, a little over six 
thousand miles instead of more than twelve thousand. The saving in 
time is even more considerable. The time from London to Bombay is 
about four weeks, instead of three months by the Cape. In 1838 a 
monthly service was started to carry the mails across Egypt; but to Lieu¬ 
tenant Waghorn (1800-50) belongs the credit of first showing how the 
voyage from India could be still further shortened. On October 31, 1845, 
he arrived in London with the Bombay mail of October 1 (via Austria, 
Bavaria, Prussia and Belgium) The railway from Suez to Alexandria by 
Cairo was opened in 1.858; but the great event that rendered the over¬ 
land route available for passengers generally was the opening of the Suez 
Canal in 1869. 

u. i.—10 


146 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The variety of starch called Arrowroot is extracted from the roots 
of certain plants growing in tropical countries. It is a fine starchy farina, 
much valued as a delicacy, and as an easily digestible food for children 
and invalids. It is obtained from the root-stocks of different species of 
Maranta. The species chiefly yielding it is a native of tropical America, 
cultivated in the West India Islands, and growing about two feet high, 
w T ith ovate-lanceolate somewhat hairy leaves, clusters of small flowers on 
two-flowered stalks, and globular fruit about the size of currants. The 
rhizomes are often more than a foot long, of the thickness of a finger, 
jointed, and almost white, covered with large papery .scales. They are 
dug up when a year old, washed, carefully peeled, and reduced to a 
milky pulp. In Jamaica the roots are reduced by beating in deep wooden 
mortars; in Bermuda by means of a wheel-rasp; but modern machinery 
has now been introduced. 

Steam navigation practically commenced in 1802, with the launch of 
the “Charlotte Dundas,” which plied on Forth and Clyde Canal. She 
had one paddle-wheel near the stern. Fulton, w r ho invented the paddle- 
box, established the American steamboat system with his “Clermont” 
(1807), which plied on the Hudson. The first steamer used in ocean 
navigation was Stevens’ “Phoenix,” which steamed from New York to 
Philadelphia in three days (1808.) The first passenger steamer in Great 
Britain was Henry Bell’s “Comet,” built at Port Glasgow (1812.) The 
first steam vessel in the British navy was also called the “Comet,” built 
at Woolwich dockyard (1822). Regular steamboat communication across 
the Atlantic w T as established in 1838. The first screw steamer in Great 
Britain was the “Archimedes,” built on the Thames (1839); the first 
screw steamer in the British navy was the “Dwarf (1843); and the first 
iron screw steamer was the “Fire Queen,” built at Glasgow(1845). Ocean 
steamers are now built of steel. 

A famous Indian product is Arrack, or Rack, a name often used for 
all sorts of distilled spirituous liquors, but chiefly applying to that pro¬ 
cured from toddy or the fermented juice of the cocoa or other palms, as 
well as from rice, and the kind of brown sugar called jaggery. The palms in 
other tropical countries furnish a fermented beverage similar to the toddy 
of India, and in a few instances also it is distilled, but arrack essentially 
belongs to India and the adjacent countries. The cocoanut palm is a chief 
source of toddy or palm wine, which is obtained from trees ranging from 
twelve to sixteen years old, or in fact at the period when they begin to 
show the first indication of flowering. After the flowering shoot or spadix 
, enveloped in its spathe is pretty well advanced, and the latter is about to 
open, the toddy-man climbs the tree and cuts off the top of the flower- 
shoot; he next ties a ligature round the stalk at the base of the spadix, 
and with a small cudgel he beats the flower-shoot and bruises it. This he 
does daily for a fortnight, and if the tree is in good condition, a consid¬ 
erable quantity of a saccharine juice flows from the cut apex of the flower- 
shoot, and is caught in a pot fixed conveniently for the purpose, and 
emptied every day. It flows freely for fifteen or sixteen days, and less 
freely day by day for another month or more; a slice has to be removed 
from the top of the shoot very frequently. The juice rapidly ferments, 
and in four days is usually sour; previous to that it is a favorite drink 
known in some parts of India as callu, and to the Europeans as toddy. 
When turning sour, it is distilled and converted into arrack. It is 
largely manufactured in Goa, Batavia, Ceylon and Siam. A similar 


INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE . 


147 


spirit is made pretty largely from tlie magnificent fan-leaved palm, and 
also from the so-called date-sugar palm. The name is also given to a 
spirit obtained from rice and sugar fermented with cocoanut sap. An 
imitation arrack may be prepared by dissolving ten grains of benzoic 
acid in a pint of rum. 


RAILWAY MILEAGE OF THE WORLD. 


The dates of the opening of "the first railways, and the mileage in 
1891, of the principal countries are as under: 


Austria-Hungary. 

Belgium. 

Denmark. 

France . 

Germany. 

Great Britain and Ireland 

Greece. 

Italy. ...'. 

Netherlands. 

Norway. 

Portugal. . 

Russia. 

Spain. 

Sweden. 

Switzerland. 

Turkey. 

Egypt. 

India. 

United States. 

Canada . 

Mexico. 

Argentine Republic. 

Brazil. 

Chili. 

Colombia... 

Paraguay... 

Peru. 

Uruguay. 

Venezuela. 


.20th September, 1828 

,5th May, 1835 . 

.18th September, 1844. 

. 1st October, 1828. 

.7th December, 1835.., 
.27th September, 1825. 
. 18th February, 1869.. 

.3d October, 1839.. 

,13th September, 1839 

. 14th July, 1853 . 

.9th July, 1854 .. 

.4th April, 1838. 

. 30th October, 1848. 

, 9th February, 1851. ... 

,15th June, 1844. 

,4th October, 1860. 

26th January, 1856.... 

18th April, 1853. 

17th April, 1827. 

19th March, 1847. 

8th October, 1850. 

14th December, 1864 .. 

30th April, 1854. 

January, 1852. 

January, 1880. 

1st October, 1863 . 

29th May, 1851. 

1st January, 1869. 

9th February, 1866.... 


16,467 
. 3,215 
1,223 
22,586 
25,969 
. 20,073 
239 
8,117 
1,887 
970 
1,280 
19,027 
6,127 
1,623 
1,929 
1,096 
1,494 
16,996 
167,000 
14,000 
5,827 
5,798 
5,779 
1,926 
230 
149 
994 
537 
441 


AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY-TWO DAYS. 

This will be of interest to those “tourists” who contemplate the 
“girdling of the earth!” 

Start from any of the Atlantic cities to Omaha, Neb., via the regular trunk lines of 
railway—about 1,400 miles, in two days and two hours. 

From Omaha to San Francisco, Cal., via Union and Central Pacific railroads—1,914 
miles, in four days and six hours. 

From San Francisco to Yokohama, Japan, by Pacific Mail line of steamers—4,700 
miles, in twenty-two days. 

From Yokohama to Hong Kong, China, by Pacific Mail or Peninsular and Oriental 
steamers—1,600 miles, in six days. 

From Hong Kong to Calcutta, India, by Peninsular and Oriental steamers—3,500 
miles, in fourteen days. 

From Calcutta to Bombay, India, by the Fast Indian and Great Indian Peninsular 
railways—1,450 miles, in three days. 

From Bombay to Suez, Fgypt, by Peninsular and Oriental steamers—3,600 miles, 
in fourteen days. 

From Suez to Alexandria, Egypt, by rail—225 miles, in ten hours. 

From Alexandria to Brindisi, Italy, by Peninsular and Oriental steamers—850 miles, 
in three days. 

From Brindisi to London, England, by rail, via Paris or the Rhine—1,200 miles, in 
thiee days. 

From London to Liverpool, England, by railway—200 miles, in six hours. 

From Liverpool to the Atlantic cities, America, by either of the great Atlantic steam¬ 
ship lines—3,000 miles, in ten days. 

Total distance, 23,639 miles. Time, eighty-two days. Fare, about $1,100; with $4 
per day for meals and incidentals, the total cost of the trip, $1,500. 
































































148 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


THEORY OF AUCTIONS. 

One of the most convenient modes of offering property for sale is 
correctly indicated by the name “Auction,” which means an arrange¬ 
ment for increasing the price by exciting competition amongst purchas¬ 
ers. In the Dutch Auction of the “Cheap Jack,” the usual mode of pro¬ 
ceeding is reversed, the property being offered at a higher price than 
that which the seller is willing to accept, and gradually lowered till a 
purchaser is found. “Cheap John” auctions are extensively in vogue in 
the larger cities of this country, in which “cappers” and other shady 
characters are employed to bid upon articles and entrap unwary persons 
into extravagant purchases. These institutions have become public 
nuisances, and many of them are little better than “fences” for stolen 
goods. Thus far not much has been accomplished in the way of their 
suppression. In legitimate auctions “Conditions of Sale” are usually 
published, which constitute the terms on which the seller offers his prop¬ 
erty, and form an integral part of the contract between seller and pur¬ 
chaser. The contract is completed by the offer or bid on the part of the 
purchaser, and the acceptance by the seller or his representative, which 
is formally declared by the fall of the auctioneer’s or salesman’s hammer, 
and in former times by the running of a sandglass, the burning of an inch 
of candle (hence the term “sale by the candle”), or any other means 
which may have been specified in the conditions of sale. Mere adver¬ 
tisement does not make a contract. These conditions or articles ouhgt 
further to narrate honestly and fully the character of the object or the 
nature of the right to be transferred, to regulate the manner of bidding, 
prescribe the order in which offerers are to be preferred, and to name a 
person who shall be empowered to determine disputes between bidders, 
and in cases of doubt to declare -which is the purchaser. 


CURIOUS BY-PRODUCTS OF COAT. 

There are a good many products from coal, of which the majority of 
people know nothing. Their number will go into the thousands, and 
research into this particular branch of inorganic chemistry is bringing 
new and rich rewards to scientists each year. One of the hydrocarbons 
distinctly produced from coal tar is benzole. This is the base of magenta 
red and blue coloring matters and of the oil of bitter almonds. This oil 
formerly came entirely from the vegetable product from which it takes 
its name, but now it is to a large extent made from benzole, and a chemi¬ 
cally pure product is secured. The vegetable oil of bitter almonds con¬ 
tains a certain amount of prussic acid, which is a poisonous substance. 
Toluene, or tolulo, is another product from coal tar, which is the base of 
a great many chemicals. Benzoic acid, which used to be made almost 
entirely from plants, is now readily made from toluene. Carbolic acid 
is another product of tolulo. The latter is a colorless fluid with a smell 
very much like crude petroleum, while carbolic acid and salicylic acid, 
two of its products, are far from being sweet-smelling compounds. Yet 
this same tolulo is the basis of a number of very fragrant products. Wiu- 
tergreen oil, much purer than from the plant, and generally preferred 
by confectioners and others who use it, is one; oil of cinnamon, cinna¬ 
mic acid, and oil of cloves are among the middle products which are in 
great demand. As yet the products of coal tar have not been made use 
of for medicines to any great extent, except as disinfectants, but, from 
experiments now going on, it is hoped to produce pure quinine from 



INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE. 


149 


chinolene, one of the coal tar products, and scientists say that it is only 
a question of time when all alkaloids known, and probably others not 
now known, wdll be made from coal tar. It would take a good-sized 
book to even begin to give an idea of the commercial products alone of 
coal tar. Nearly every known color, except cochineal red and indigo 
blue, is made, and the latter was produced after nine years of experiment 
by the eminent German scientist, Byer of Munich, but the manufacture 
was so expensive that it has never been done except for scientific pur¬ 
poses. The logwood and madder dyes of our grandmothers’ days are 
rarely seen in the market now, owing to the cheapness with hich they 
are manufactured. Red ink, which formerly was made almost ex¬ 
clusively from carmine, is now made from eosine, one of the numerous 
coal-tar progeny. 

COAT PRODUCTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Compiled from the Report of the Eleventh Census, covering product 
of 1889. Weight expressed in short tons of 2,000 pounds: 


STATES 

TONS 

STATES. 

TONS. 

STATES. 

TONS. 

Alabama. 

Arkansas. 

California and 

Oregon ..._ 

Colorado. 

Georgia and 
North Carolina 

Illinois. 

Indiana. 

Indian Territory 

Iowai . 

Kansas. 

3,378,484 

279,584 

186,119 

2,360,536 

226,156 
12,104,272 
2,845,057 
732 832 
4,061,704 
2,230,763 

Kentucky. 

Maryland. 

Michigan. .. 

Missouri... 

Montana. 

Nebraska and 

Dakotas. 

New Mexico. 

Ohio. 

Pennsylvania: 

Anthracite_ 

Bituminous ... 

2,399,755 

2,939,715 

67,431 

2,567,823 

363,301 

30,307 

486,983 

9,976,787 

45 544,970 
36,174,089 

Tennessee. 

Texas . 

Utah.. 

Virginia: 
Anthracite .... 
Bituminous ... 
Washington. 
West Virginia.... 
Wyoming. 

1,925,689 
128 216 
236,601 

2,817 
865,786 
993,724 
6,231.880 
1,388 947 


Total product, 1889, short tons, 140,730,288, equivalent to 125,652,056 long tons of 
2,240 pounds. _____ 


THE WORLD’S COAL-FIELDS. 

Area in Square Miees.— China and Japan, 200,000; United States, 
194,000; India, 35,000; Russia, 27,000; Great Britain, 9,000; Germany, 
3,600; France, 1,800; Belgium, Spain, and other countries, 1,400. Total, 
471,800. 

The coal-fields of China, Japan, Great Britain, Germany, Russia, and 
India contain apparently 303,000,000,000 tons, which is enough for 
seven hundred years at present rate of consumption. If to the above be 
added the coal-fields in the United States, Canada, and other countries, 
the supply will be found ample for one thousand years. Improved ma¬ 
chinery has greatly increased the yield per miner, and thus produced a 
fall in price to the advantage of all industries. 


THE WORLD’S FINEST HARBORS. 

San Francisco may fairly claim to have the most capacious natural 
harbor of any of the world’s great trading marts. It is also one of the 
very safest. It is entered through the Golden Gate, a passage a mile 
wide and thirty-five feet deep at low tide—admitting the largest ships 
afloat without danger of grounding. The landlocked bay of which this 
harbor is part is fifty miles long, and averages five miles in width. There 
all the shipping of the entire globe could anchor in perfect safety. Port 




































150 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Philip bay, the chief harbor of Victoria, Australia, is larger than the 
bay of San Francisco, being about thirty-eight miles long by thirty-three 
broad, but its very breadth, with its surroundings, leaves it exposed to 
storms from certain quarters. Port Jackson, on which Sydney, New 
South Wales, Australia, is located, is a magnificent harbor, completely 
landlocked, extending inland in some places fully twenty miles, and 
having ample depth of water for vessels of the heaviest burden. The 
harbors of New York City, Rio Janeiro, Brazil, and Havana, Cuba, are 
capacious and secure. Next come those of Boston, Norfolk, Va., Port¬ 
land, Me., Halifax, N.S., Copenhagen, Constantinople, Hong Kong, 
Yokohama and Nagasaki. The great ports situated on the banks of 
rivers, such as London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Lisbon, Philadelphia, New 
Orleans, Quebec, Shanghai, Canton, Calcutta, etc., are not included in 
the definition of harbors as here considered. 


CONDENSED POSTAL INFORMATION. 

Locae, or Drop LETTERS, two cents for each ounce at all letter car¬ 
rier offices, and at other offices 1 cent. 

LETTERS to any part of the United States or the Dominion of Canada, 
2 cents for each ounce or fraction thereof. 

LETTERS to Great Britain or Ireland, or the Continent of Europe, 5 
cents for each half ounce. 

LETTERS may be registered by paying a charge of 10 cents. 

Postae Cards costing one cent each can be sent to any part of the 
United States or Canada. They may be sent to Newfoundland, Great 
Britain and Ireland by adding a 1 cent stamp. 

Printed Matter: 1. Printed Books, Periodicals, Transient News¬ 
papers and other matter wholly in print, in unsealed envelopes 1 cent 
for each two ounces or fraction thereof. 

2. Printed circulars may bear the date, address and signature at 
this rate. 

3. Reproductions by electric pen, Hektograph, and similar pro¬ 
cesses, same as Printed Matter. 

Articees of Merchandise, Seeds, Cuttings, Roots, and other 
mailable matter 1 cent for each ounce or fraction thereof. 

Aee Packages of mail matter not charged w r ith letter postage must 
be arranged so the same can be conveniently examined by postmasters. 
If not so arranged, letter postage will be charged. 

Articees of Merchandise may be registered at the rate of 10 cents 
a package, subject to proper examination before registration. The name 
and the address of sender must be indorsed in writing, or in print, on 
each package offered for registration. 

Any Package may have the name and address of the sender, with 
the word “from” prefixed on the wrapper, and the number and names 
of the articles may be added in brief form. 

Postae Note, payable to bearer at any money order office designed 
by the purchaser of the note, must be for an amount under five dollars, 
and will cost three cents. 

Money Orders: The fee for a money order not exceeding $10 is 
8 cents; $10 to $15, 10 cents; $15 to $30, 15 cents; $30 to $40, 20 cents; $40 
to $50, 25 cents; $50 to $60, 30 cents; $60 to $70, 35 cents; $70 to $80 dol¬ 
lars, 40 cents; $80 to $100, 45 cents. 



HANDICRAFT AND INVENTION. 


Toiling—rejoicing—sorrowing, 

Onward through life he goes; 

Each morning sees some task begun, 

Each evening sees it close; 

Something attempted, something done, 

Has earned a night’s repose! 

—IfONGFELLOW. 

TRIUMPHS OF SKILL AND GENIUS. 

Telescopes were invented in 1590. 

The first steel pen was made in 1830. 

The telephone was invented in 1861. 

The Chinese invented paper, 170 B. C. 

Ben Franklin used the first lightning rods in 1752. 

The phonograph w r as invented by T. A. Edison in 1877, 

Stained glass windows were used in the eighth century. 

The first illumination with gas was in Cornwall, Eng., in 1792. 

Spectacles were invented by an Italian in the thirteenth century. 

St. Peter’s church at Rome was begun in 1415, and finished in 1626. 

Daguerre and Nieper invented the process of daguerreotype in 1839. 

The first illumination by gas in the United States was at Boston in 
1822. 

The first complete sewing machine was patented by Elias Howe, 
Jr., in 1846. 

The first electric telegraph, Paddington to Brayton, Eng., was put 
into operation in 1835. 

The first musical notes were used in 1338; they were first printed 
in the fifteenth century. 

Umbrellas were not seen in England until 1768, when Gen. Washing¬ 
ton was thirty-six years old. 

A minister in England made $50,000 by inventing an odd toy that 
danced by winding it wdth a string. 

The great wall of China, built 200 B. C., is 1,250 miles in length, 20 
feet high, and 25 feet thick at the base. 

Glass mirrors were first made by Venetians in the thirteenth century. 
Polished metal was used before that time. 

It appears that on the Santee river, in South Carolina, they were 
manufacturing cotton by machinery in 1790. 

151 



152 


MANUAL OF USEFUL LNFORMA TION. 


The different shot towers in this country, such as that in Philadelphia, 
were put up as early as 1808 to the height of 180 feet. 

Printing was known in China in the sixth century. It was intro¬ 
duced into England about 1474, and into America in 1536. 

Pins date to 1543 in France, and were made in England in 1626. Be¬ 
fore that time they used thorns and clasps in place of pins. 

Burnt brick are known to have been used in building the Tower of 
Babel. They were introduced into England by the Romans. 

The man who invented the return ball, an ordinary wooden ball with 
a rubber string attached to pull it back, made $1,000,000 from it. 

The first cigar-ship was a steam pleasure yacht built in the shape of 
a cigar from the design of Mr. Ross Winans. It was launched on the 
Thames in 1886; 

The longest fence in the world is in Australia—one thousand two 
hundred and thirty-six miles. It is made of wire netting, and its object 
is to keep out rabbits. 

The longest span of wire in the world is used for a telegraph in India 
over the river Ristuah. Its length is over six thousand feet, and it is 
stretched between two hills twelve hundred feet high. 

As large a sum as was ever obtained for any invention was enjoyed 
by the Yankee who invented the inverted glass bell to hang over gas jets 
to protect ceilings from being blackened by smoke. 

Every one has seen the metal plates that are used to protect the heels 
and soles of rough shoes, but every one doesn’t know that within ten 
years the man who hit upon the idea has made $250,000. 

The common needle threader, which every one has seen for sale, and 
which every woman owns, was a boon to needle users. The man who 
invented it has an income of $10,000 a year from his invention. 

The Great Wall of China was completed b. c. 214 by Chi-Hwang-Ti 
of the Tsin dynasty. Every third man of the whole empire was em¬ 
ployed on the work, and half a million of them died of starvation. 

The screw propeller of the steamship “Umbria,” is twenty-four and 
one-half feet in diameter, and weighs thirty-nine tons. Its four blades 
are made of manganese bronze, and the metal in them cost over $16 - 
000 . ■ ’ 

The use of granite and flint broken to pieces one or two ounces in 
weight to form roads, was recommended by John Macadam, a Scotchman, 
in 1819; the plan was adopted, and he received $50,000 from the British 
government, and was appointed surveyor-general of the Metropolitan 
roads. 

Paris claims the finest theater in the world. It is of solid stone, fin¬ 
ished with marble floors, and covers about four acres of ground. EaScala 
of Milan, has the largest seating capacity, while the Auditorium, at Chi¬ 
cago, completed in 1889, seating seven thousand, ranks second in that 
respect. 

When Catherine of Russia was on the throne, an ingenious peasant 
presented her with a marvelous watch, which is at present being exhib¬ 
ited in St. Petersburg. In size and shape it somewhat resembles a chick¬ 
en’s egg. When wound up to the proper pitch it plays religious chants 
accompanied with scenic effects. 


HANDICRAFT AND INVENTION 


153 


The Chubb lock was named after its inventor, a London locksmith. 
In addition to the usual tumblers, it had an extra one, which fixed the 
bolt immovably if one of the ordinary tumblers was lifted a little too 
high. 

The inventor of the roller skate has made $1,000,000, notwithstand- 
ing the fact that his patent had nearly expired before the value of it was 
ascertained in the craze for roller skating that spread over the country a 
few years ago. 

The highest monument in the world is the Washington monument, 
being five hundred and fifty-five feet. The highest structure of any kind 
is the Eiffel Tower, Paris, finished in 1889, and nine hundred and eighty- 
nine feet high. 

The American hunting dagger or bowie-knife was named after its 
inventor, Colonel Jim Bowie, who, born about 1790, fell at Fort Alamo 
in the Texan war (1836). Its curved, double-edged blade is ten to fifteen 
inches long, and above an inch wide. 

They were making cannons in 1814 at the Fort Pitt works, Pitts¬ 
burg, to be used by Commodore Perry on Lake Erie. It was many a year 
before we began to make cppper and brass out there, say in 1850, after we 
had developed Lake Superior copper. 

How old do you suppose silk is? It was spun in China two thousand 
six hundred and forty years before Christ, and Isaiah seems to refer to it 
when he says: “They'that w r ork in sirokott or fine flax, and they that 
weave network, shall be confounded.” 

Out of Sussex Co., Eng., William Penn took seven hundred of the 
best mechanics, millwrights, carpenters etc., and brought them to the 
United States. The first county he struck, at the mouth of the Dela¬ 
ware, he named in their honor Sussex County. 

Glass paper or cloth is made by powdering glass more or less finely 
and sprinkling it over paper or calico still wet with a coat of thin glue; 
the powdered glass adheres as it dries. Glass paper is very extensively 
employed as a means for polishing wood-work. 

It was only one hundred and six years ago that a committee was ap¬ 
pointed in Philadelphia to inquire into the process of coloring leather as 
practiced in Turkey and Morocco. They paid an Armenian whom they 
found ^100 and a gold medal to give them the information. 

The largest anvil known is that used in the Woolwich Arsenal, Eng¬ 
land. It weighs sixty tons. The anvil block upon which it rests weighs 
one hundred and three tons. Altogether six hundred tons of iron w r ere 
used in the anvil, the block and the foundation work. 

The process for making Bessemer Steel was invented by Sir Henry 
Bessemer in 1856. It converts fused pig iron into steel by blowing air 
through it and clearing it of carbon, and then adding enough carbon to 
make steel. Another kind of Bessemer steel is made from inferior pig 
iron by a modified process and is termed Basic steel. 

The telephone is an instrument designed to reproduce sounds at a 
distance by means of electricity. Professor Graham Bell’s articulating 
telephone was produced in 1877. Communication by telephone between 
New York and Chicago (1,000 miles), w r as opened in 1893, between Paris 
and Marseilles (563 miles) in 1888, and between London and Paris in 
1891. 


154 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The gimlet-pointed screw has produced more wealth than most sil¬ 
ver mines, and the Connecticut man who first thought of putting copper 
tips on the toes of children’s shoes, is as well off as if he had inherited 
$1,000,000, for that’s the amount his idea has realized for him. 

The largest bells in the world are the following, their weight being 
given in tons: Moscow, 216; Burmah,117; Pekin, 53; Novgorod, 31; Notre 
Dame, 18; Rouen, 18; Olmutz, 18; Vienna, 18; St. Paul’s, 16; West¬ 
minster, 14; Montreal, 12; Cologne, 11; Oxford, 8; St. Peter’s, 8. 

The Chicopee works near Springfield, Mass., started in 1829, and 
began to manufacture cutlery, and also cast the first American statuary, 
such as the gates of the Capitol at Washington, the statue of Washington 
in New York, and that of De Witt Clinton in Greenwood Cemetery. 

French ingenuity has contrived ' an improved stone-cutting saw of 
remarkable efficiency—a circular saw having its edge set with black di¬ 
amonds in the same way as the straight blades; but as the strain on the 
diamond is all in one direction, the setting can be made much firmer. 

Umbrellas commenced to be made on a large scale in this country in 
1820 by the Wrights, who are still at it, and who were four brothers, all 
from Oxfordshire, England. For ten years they made only one hundred 
umbrellas a day, and by the time of the civil war made three thousand a 
day. 

A hot water fountain is in operation in Paris. The water that feeds 
the fountain passes through a coil of copper tubing three hundred feet 
long. By dropping a sou in a slot jets of gas are turned on and ignited. 
By this means the water is heated. For each sou one is entitled to eight 
liters. It is expected that this fountain will be of great assistance to 
the poor. 

The catamaran is a raft formed usually of three pieces of wood lashed 
together, the middle piece being longer than the others, and serving as a 
keel; on this the rower kneels or squats, and works a paddle. These 
simple vessels are used by the natives of Madras to maintain communica¬ 
tion between ships and the shore, ordinary boats being rendered unsafe 
by the surf. 

Many things we used to have in perfection we see no more. For 
instance, paper collars in 1853 were being manufactured by the million. 
Bismarck says that as late as the war of 1870, Burnside came to camp wdth 
another American, who wore a paper collar. But celluloid has replaced 
paper, and linen and cotton have become so cheap that it hardly pays to 
wear the poor article. 

Vellum is the name originally given to a fine variety of parchment, 
made of calfskin. Vellum is prepared from the skins of kids, lambs, 
and-young calves. Some of the earliest printed books were done on 
vellum, and' some of the best of the early miniature portraits -were 
painted on a specially fine quality of vellum prepared from the skins of 
calves prematurely born. 

The Union arch of the Washington Aqueduct is the largest in the 
world, being two hundred and twenty feet; twenty feet in excess of the 
Chester arch across the Dee in England, sixty-eight feet longer than that 
of the London Bridge; ninety-two feet longer than that at Neuilly on the 
Seine, and one hundred feet longer than that of Waterloo Bridge. The 
height of the Washington arch is one hundred feet. 


HA ND ICR A FT AND INVENTION 


155 


A diamond cut at Antwerp is, with one exception, the largest in the 
world. It weighed 474 carats, but has lost 275 in the cutting. It will 
still, however, hold its place as second largest cut stone, being exceeded 
only by the Persian Great Mogul, which weighs 280 carats. The Koh- 
i-noor weighs only 102 y 2 carats. The Antwerp diamond is about as large 
as a pigeon’s egg, and measures .786 inches each way. 

The pretty trinkets called Bog Oak Ornaments are turned or carved 
from the trunks of the black oak, which is especially suitable for the pur¬ 
pose, the yew, fir and other woods, which are often found, of a dark color 
and well preserved, in the peat bogs of Great Britain, Ireland and other 
countries. The trade originated in the reign of George IV. The annual 
value of such goods sold in Dublin has been estimated at $100,000. 

In shipping the caisson is an apparatus for lifting a vessel out of the 
water for repairs or inspection. It is usually a hollow structure, sunk by 
letting water into it. There is an air chamber inside, which allows it to 
sink only to a certain depth. In that state it is hauled under the ship’s 
bottom, the traps or openings are closed, the water is pumped out, and 
the caisson rises with the ship upon it. Pontoon is another term for the 
same apparatus. 

One of the cleverest inventions ever passed on by the patent office is 
the machine for sticking common pins in the papers in wdiich they are 
sold. The contrivance brings up the pins in rows, draws the paper into 
position, crimps it into two lines, then, at a single push, passes the pins 
through the paper and sets them in position. The machine almost 
seems to think as it works, and to examine the paper to see if it is prop¬ 
erly folded before pushing the pins into place. 

The steam engine in its present form was the invention of James 
Watt (1768), whose great improvement consisted in performing conden¬ 
sation in a separate vessel from the cylinder, and in producing both the 
up and down stroke of the piston by steam. The compound engine, in 
which the steam receives its expansion is a second and larger cylinder, 
was the invention of Jonathan Hornblower (1781). The marine engine 
of Elder (1854; is an adaptation of Hornblower’s compound engine. 

The Eiffel Tower' is a colossal iron structure erected by Gustave 
Eiffel, a French engineer, on the Champs de Mars. It was completed 
March 31, 1889. It contains three stories, reached by a series of elevators 
or lifts, and the platform at the summit is 985 feet above the ground. 
About seventeen hundred tons of iron were employed in its construction; 
the cost was about $1,000,000. The London Great Tower now (1893) in 
process of construction will exceed the Eiffel Tower in height by 200 feet 
and is to be of polished steel. 

The largest and grandest temple of worship in the world is 
St. Peter’s Cathedral at Rome. It stands on the site of Nero’s circus, in 
the northwest part of the city, and is built in form of a Latin cross. The 
total length of the interior is 612^ English feet; transept, 446height 
ofnave, 152>£ feet; diameter of cupola, 193 feet; height of dome from 
pavement to top of cross, 448 feet. The great bell alone without the 
hammer or clapper weighs 18,600 pounds, or over nine and one- 
fourth tons. The foundation was laid in 1450 A. D. Forty-three 
Popes lived and died during the time the work was in progress. It was 
dedicated in the year 1626, but not entirely finished until the year 1880. 
The cost, in round numbers, is set down at $70,000,000. 


156 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


In engineering tlie caisson is a chest used in “laying” the founda¬ 
tions of the piers of bridges, quays and like structures, in deep and rapid 
rivers. It consists of a very strong platform of timber or metal plates, to 
which the sides are attached. The site of the pier being leveled by dredg¬ 
ing or otherwise, the caisson is brought over the spot, and moored in the 
proper position. Two or three of the lower courses of masonry are then 
built upon the platform of the caisson, and the water is slowly admitted 
by a sluice, in order to cause the caisson to settle into its place. 

The annual manufacture of looking glass in Europe is something 
like eighteen hundred and fifty thousand square yards. In the mirrors of 
today the light is reflected by a layer of silver or an amalgam of tin, but a 
proportion of light is lost in the process of reflection, and the image is 
less luminous than the original. The value of a looking glass is esti¬ 
mated by the thickness of the glass, because the thicker they are the 
stronger they must be; but, speaking scientifically, thick glasses are de¬ 
fective, because the outlines of the image reflected are less clearly defined. 

The largest ship ever built, the Great Eastern, recently broken to 
pieces and sold to junk dealers, was designed and constructed by Scott 
Russell at Millwall on the Thames.' Work on the giant vessel was com¬ 
menced in May, 1854. She was successfully launched January 13, 1858. 
The launching alone occupied the time from November 3, 1857, until the 
date above given. Her total length was six hundred and ninety-two 
feet; breadth, eighty-three feet; total weight when launched, twelve 
thousand tons. Her first trip of any consequence was made to New 
York in 1859-60. 

The problem of silent machinery has been brought a step nearer solu¬ 
tion by the introduction in Austria of cog-wheels made of pressed raw- 
hide, which work in conjunction with wheels of cast iron, steel and other 
metals. The wheels possess great strength. They do not require lubri¬ 
cating, and are, therefore, clean in operation. They substantially reduce 
the vibration of the machinery in which they are used. They can be had 
ready-made or in the form of r aw hide disks for shaping by the pur¬ 
chaser. They are supported by a wooden framework, and after being 
cut the wheel is covered with a shellac solution. 

As a process of mining and engineering Blasting is the method of 
loosening or shattering masses of solid fracturable matter by means of ex¬ 
plosive compounds. It is an operation of fundamental importance for, 
without the agency of powerful explosives, many of the greatest under¬ 
takings of modern times would have been practically impossible. The 
greatest blast ever exploded was in the removal of Flood Rock at Hell 
Gate, in the East River, New York, when 80,166 cubic yards of rock were 
tunneled out and 270,717 cubic yards were blasted. The resistance 
offered equalled 500,000 tons of rock and 200,000 tons of water. 

Solomon’s Temple was dedicated in the year 1005 b. c. It was. eighty 
cubits in length, by forty cubits in width (cubic = eighteen in.) and 
thirty cubits high, with a porch one hundred and twenty cubits in height. 
The Holy of Holies was a cube of twenty cubits each way. Two pillars 
of brass, eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference, named 
respectively Joachim and Boaz , were set up in the porch of the temple, 
and by some critics have been considered obelisks. Three tiers of small 
chambers were ranged externally to the walls of the Temple on three 
sides of the building, and were used for the accommodation of the priest¬ 
hood. ^ 


HANDICRAFT AND INVENTION. 


157 


One of the most famous roads in the world is the “Appian Way,” or 
* ‘The Queen of Roads. ’ ’ It was built by Appius Claudius Caecus while he 
was censor, 313 B. C. It is the oldest and most celebrated of all the Roman 
roads, and with its branches connected Rome with all parts of southern 
Italy. It had an admirable substructure or foundation,from which all the 
loose soil had been carefully removed. Above this were various strata 
cemented with lime; and lastly came the pavement, consisting of large 
hard hexagonal blocks of stone, composed principally of basaltic lava, 
and joined together with great. nicety, so as to appear one smooth mass. 

The largest and costliest private mansion in the world is that belong¬ 
ing to Lord Bute, called Mountstuart, and situated near Rothesay. It 
covers nearly two acres; is built in gothic style; the walls, turrets and 
balconies are built of stone. The immense tower in the center of the 
building is one hundred and twenty feet high, with a balcony around 
the top. The halls are constructed entirely of marble and alabaster, and 
the rooms are finished in mahogany, rosewood and walnut. The fire¬ 
places are all carved marbles of antique design. The exact cost of this 
fairy palace is not known, but it has never been estimated at less than 
| 8 , 000 , 000 . 

In the rigging of a ship a block is an important part of the apparatus 
necessary for raising sails and yards, tightening ropes, etc. The block 
comprises both the frame or shell, and the pulley or pulleys—usually 
termed “sheaves”—contained within it. In nautical and mechanical 
language a tackle includes the rope as well as the block through which it 
works. Ships’ blocks vary greatly in size, shape, power, designation, 
and use, but nearly every block comprises a shell or wooden exterior, a 
sheave or w r heel on which the rope runs, a pin or axle on which the 
sheave turns, and a strap (of rope or iron) to fasten the block to any par¬ 
ticular station. 

A Sedan chair is a portable covered vehicle for carrying a single per¬ 
son, borne on two poles by two men. The name is derived from the town 
of Sedan, where this species of conveyance is said to have been invented. 
The Duke of Buckingham used one in the reign of James I. The pro¬ 
ceeding gave general offence, and it was made a matter of public remark 
that this royal favorite used his fellow countrymen to do the work of 
beasts. In September 1634 Sir Sanders Duncombe got a letter patent, 
granting him the sole right and privilege for fourteen years to use and 
let for hire within London and Westminster “covered chairs” to prevent 
the unnecessary use of coaches; according to Evelyn he got the notion 
from Naples. 

The Sarcophagus is any stone receptable for a dead body. The name 
originated in the property assigned to a species of stone, found at Assos 
in Troas and used in early times, of consuming the whole body, with the 
exception of the teeth, within the space of forty days. The oldest known 
sarcophagi are those of Egypt, some of which are contemporary with the 
pyramids. The earliest of these are of a square or oblong form, and either 
plain or ornamented with lotus leaves; the later are of the form of 
swathed mummies, and bear inscriptions. The pyramids were sepulchral 
tombs built to contain the sarcophagi of the kings of Egypt; the Phoeni¬ 
cian and Persian kings were also buried in sarcophagi. The Roman sar¬ 
cophagi of the earlier republican period were plain. Sarcophagi were 
occasionally used in the later republic, although burning had become 
the more general mode of disposing of the dead. 


158 


MANUAL OF USEFUL IN FORM A TION. 


The great pyramid of Cheops is the largest structure ot any kind ever 
erected by the hand of man. Its original dimensions at the base were 
764 feet square, and its perpendicular height in the highest point 488 feet; 
it covers four acres, one rood, and twenty-two perches of ground and has 
been estimated by an eminent architect to have cost not less than $145,- 
200,000. Internal evidence proves that the great pyramid was begun 
about the year 2170 b.c., or the time of the birth of Abraham. It is esti¬ 
mated that about 5,000,000 tons of hewn stone were used in its construc¬ 
tion, and the evidence points to the fact that these stones were brought 
a distance of nearly seven hundred miles from quarries in Arabia. 

The largest locomotive ever constructed prior to 1880 was that made 
at the Baldwin Locomotive Works during the early part of 1879. It was 
turned out ready for use April 10th of that year and named Uncle Dick. 
Uncle Dick weighed 130,000 pounds; was sixty feet from headlight to the 
rear end of the tender. He is now at work on the Atchison, Topeka & 
Santa Fe road. During the year 1883 the same works that constructed 
Uncle Dick turned out several locomotives for the Northern Pacific rail¬ 
road, each weighing 180,000 pounds. During the same year, as if to over¬ 
shadow the Baldwin works, the Central Pacific Company caused to be 
built at their shops in Sacramento, Cal., what are really the largest loco¬ 
motives in the world. They have eight drive-wheels each, the cylinders 
are nineteen inches in diameter, and the stroke three feet. These engines 
weigh, with the tender, as Uncle Dick’s weight was given, almost 190,000 
pounds. The Baldwin Works, in 1889, completed for the Northern Pacific 
an engine weighing, with tender, 225,000 pounds. 

The soldering of glass and procelain with metals is a novel French 
process, and its adaptations are likely to be as numerous as they are 
valuable. It is also simple. The portion of the tube that is to be sol¬ 
dered is first covered with a thin layer of platinum, this deposit being 
obtained by covering the slightly heated glass, by means of a brush, with 
very neutral chloride of platinum, mixed with essential oil of chamomile, 
the latter being slowly evaporated, and, when the w r hite and odoriferous 
vapors cease to be given off, the temperature is raised to a red heat; the 
platinum is then reduced and covers the glass tube with a layer of bright 
metal. On connecting the tube thus metalized and placed in a bath of 
sulphate of copper, to the negative pole of a battery of suitable energy, 
there is deposited on the platinum a ring of copper, which will be mal¬ 
leable and very adhesive if the operation has been properly performed. 
In this state the glass tube, covered with copper, can be treated like a 
genuine metalic tube, and be soldered to iron, copper, bronze, platinum, 
or any metal that can be united with tin solder. 

The great Egyptian obelisk in Central Park, New York, is one of the 
most noted monoliths in the world. It was quarried, carved and erected 
about the time of Abraham, to commemorate the deeds of an ancient 
Pharaoh. Five hundred years later the conquering Sesostris, the bad 
Pharaoh of Scripture, carved on its surface the record of his famous reign. 
The royal cartouch (or oval) shows that the work w r as done under the im¬ 
mediate order and sanction of the king. But Sesostris (or Rameses II) 
reigned one hundred years before the Trojan war; so all the sym¬ 
bols now seen on Cleopatra’s Needle were already venerable with age in 
the days of Priam, Hector, Helen, Agamemnon, Achilles and Ulysses. 
The Roman poet Horace says there were brave men before Agamemnon, 
but they lacked a Homer to save their names from oblivion. Sesostris, 


HANDICRAFT AND INVENTION 


159 


however, was an exception. He escaped oblivion without the aid of a 
Homer. Homer’s heroes are to be congratulated above all men on hav¬ 
ing their story sung by such a minstrel; but with this thought there 
always goes a little doubt as to whether there ever were such heroes and 
such deeds outside of Homer’s imagination. The hard granite of the 
Egyptian monuments leaves no doubt that Sesostris lived and reigned. 


durability OF different WOODS. 

Experiments have been lately made by driving sticks, made from 
different woods, each two feet long and one and one-half inches square, 
into the ground, only one-half an inch projecting outward. It was 
found that in five years all those made of oak, elm, ash, fir, soft mahog¬ 
any and nearly every variety of pine, were totally rotten. Larch, hard 
pine and teak wood were decayed on the outside only, while acacia, with 
the exception of being also slightly attacked on the exterior, was other¬ 
wise sound. Hard mahogany and cedar of Lebanon were in tolerably 
good condition; but only Virginia cedar was found as good as when put 
in the ground. This is of some importance to builders, showing what 
woods should be avoided, and what others used by preference in under¬ 
ground work. 

The duration of wood when kept dry is very great, as beams still 
exist which are known to be nearly 1,100 years old. Piles driven by the 
Romans prior to the Christian era have been examined of late, and found 
to be perfectly sound after an immersion of nearly 2,000 years. 

The wood of some tools will last longer than the metals, as in spades, 
hoes and plows. In other tools the wood is first gone, as in wagons, 
wheelbarrows and machines. Such wood should be painted or oiled; 
the paint not only looks well, but preserves the wood; petroleum oil 
is as good as any other. 

Hardwood stumps decay in five or six years; spruce stumps decay 
in about the same time; hemlock stumps in eight to nine years; cedar, 
eight to nine years; pine stumps, never. 

Cedar, oak, yellow pine and chestnut are the most durable woods in 
dry places. 

Timber intended for posts is rendered almost proof against rot by 
thorough seasoning, charring and immersion in hot coal tar. 


THE WORLD’S NOTED BRIDGES. 

The Sublician bridge at Rome is the oldest wooden bridge in exist¬ 
ence. It was built in the seventh century. The old London Bridge was 
the first stone bridge. It was built in 1176. The first cast iron bridge was 
erected at Coalbrookdale, Eng., in 1779. The Niagara Suspension 
bridge was built by Roebling, in 1852. It cost $400,000, is 245 feet above 
the water, 1,260 feet long. The Havre de Grace bridge over the Susque¬ 
hanna is 3,271 feet long. The longest general traffic draw-bridge in the 
world is at Rush Street, Chicago, Ill. 

The largest stone bridge on the face of the earth is that finished in 
May, 1885, at Lagang, China. Chinese engineers had sole control of its 
construction. It crosses an arm of the China Sea, is nearly six miles in 
length, is composed entirely of stone, and has 300 arches, each 70 feet 
high. It is the most colossal structure ever reared by man, yet we sneer 
at the “heathen Chinee.” The largest truss iron bridge in the world 




160 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


crosses the Frith of Tay, Scotland. It is 18,612 feet in length and com¬ 
posed of eighty-five spans. The Forth Bridge, across the Forth at 
Queensferry, was commenced 1883, and opened March 4, 1890. The 
river at Queensferry is about 4,000 feet wide at low water. The principal 
feature of this work is the extraordinary length, for a rigid structure, of 
the two main spans, each of which has a length of 1710 feet, made up of 
two cantilevers, each 680 feet long, united by a central girder 350 feet long. 
The two main spans are supported on the small island of Inchgarvie. 
The Forth Bridge has a total height above high water of 361 feet, and 
a clear headway above high water of 150 feet, and carries two lines of 
rails. The longest wooden bridge in the world is that crossing Lake 
Ponchartrain, near New Orleans, La. It is a trestle-work twenty-one 
miles in length, built of cypress piles which have been saturated with 
creosote oil to preserve them. The highest bridge in the United States 
is over Kinzina Creek, near Bradford, Pa. It was built in 1882, has a 
total span of 2,051 feet, and is 301 feet above the creek bed. 

The oldest chain bridge in the world is said to be that at Kingtung, 
in China. The Menai Bridge, in Wales, was constructed by Mr. Telford, 
1825; its length is 580 feet. Clifton Suspension Bridge at Bristol is 702 
feet long and 245 feet above high water. The suspension bridge between 
New York and Brooklyn is 1,595^ feet long in the center span, and 
4,355 feet altogether; its width is eighty-five feet. It is a railway, vehi¬ 
cular and foot bridge. 

SELECTED HINTS FOR ARTISANS. 

Furniture Poeish. —For French polishing cabinet-makers use: Pale 
shellac, 1 pound; mastic, 1| ounces; alcohol of 90 per cent standard, 1 to 
1^ pints. Dissolve cold, with frequent stirring. 

Cement for Rubber Boots.— A good cement for rubber boots is 
made by dissolving crude rubber in bisulphuret of carbon, making the 
solution rather thin. Put the cement upon the patch and the boot, heat 
borh, and put them together. 

Piano Poeish. —Take equal proportions of turpentine, linseed oil 
and vinegar. Mix; rub in well with a piece of flannel cloth. Then 
polish with a piece of chamois skin. This treatment will entirely re¬ 
move the dingy appearance that age gives to fine woods 

How to Expee Rats. —Get a piece of lead pipe and use it as a 
funnel to introduce about \]/ 2 ounces of sulphide of potassium into any 
outside holes tenanted by rats; not to be used in dwellings. To get 
rid of mice use tartar emetic mingled with any favorite food; they will 
eat, sicken and take their leave. 

Hand Grenades. —Take chloride of calcium, crude, 20 parts; com¬ 
mon salt, 5 parts; and water, 75 parts. Mix and put in thin bottles. In 
case of fire, a bottle so thrown that it will break in or very near the fire 
will put it out. This mixture is better and cheaper than many of the 
high-priced grenades sold for the purpose of fire-protection. 

To Test Water.— The purity of water can be ascertained as fol¬ 
lows: Fill a large bottle made of colorless glass with water; look through 
the water at some black object. Pour out some of the water and leave 
the bottle half full; cork the bottle and place it for a few hours in a warm 
place; shake up the water, remove the cork, and critically smell the air 
contained in the bottle. If it has any smell, particularly if the odor is 



HANDICRAFT AND INTENTION 


161 


repulsive, the water should not be used for domestic purposes. By heat- 
ing the water an odor is evolved that would not otherwise appear. 
Water fresh from the well is usually tasteless, even if it contains a large 
amount of putrescible organic matter. All water for domestic purposes 
should be perfectly tasteless, and remain so even after it has been 
warmed, since warming often develops a taste in water which is tasteless 
when cold. 

Fireproof Wood. —Soak 27.5 parts by weight of sulphate of zinc, 
11 of potash, 22 of alum, and 11 of manganic oxide in luke warm water 
in an iron boiler, and gradually add 11 parts by weight of 60 per cent 
sulphuric acid. The wood to be prepared is placed upon an iron grating 
in an apparatus of suitable size, the separate pieces being placed at least 
an inch apart. The liquid is then poured into the apparatus, and the 
wood allowed to remain completely covered for three hours, and is then 
air-dried. 

Protecting Lead Water Pipes.—To protect lead waterpipes from 
the action of water, which often affects them chemically, partially dis¬ 
solving them, and injuring the pipes, as w r ell as poisoning the water, fill 
the pipes with a warm and concentrated solution of sulphide of potas¬ 
sium or sodium; leave the solution in contact with the lead for about 
fifteen minutes and then blow it out. This coats the inside of the pipes 
with sulphite of lead, which is absolutely insoluble, and cannot be acted 
upon by water at all. 

To Make Ceoth Waterproof. —There have been various devices 
for rendering cloth waterproof without the use of India rubber. The 
most successful of these, no doubt, is the Stenhouse patent. This con¬ 
sists of the application of paraffine combined with drying oil. Paraffine 
was first used alone, but it was found to harden and break off from the 
cloth after a time. When- drying oil was added, however, even in a 
very small quantity, it was found that the two substances, by the absorp¬ 
tion of oxygen, became converted into a tenacious substance very like 
resin. To apply this the paraffine is melted with drying oil and then 
cast into blocks. The composition can then be applied to fabrics by 
rubbing them over with a block of it, either cold or gently warmed. Or 
the melted mixture may be applied with a brush and the cloth then 
passed through hot rollers in order to cover its entire substance perfectly. 
This application makes cloth very repellant to water, though still per¬ 
vious to air. 

Preserving Wood. —There have been a number of processes pat- 
ended for preserving wood. One of them, very generally used, consists 
in immersing the timber in a bath of corrosive sublimate. Another pro¬ 
cess consists in first filling the pores with a solution of chloride of cal¬ 
cium under pressure, and next forcing in a solution of sulphate of iron, 
by which an insoluble sulphate of lime is formed in the body of the wood, 
which is thus rendered nearly as hard as stone. Wood prepared in this 
way is now very largely used for railroad ties. Another process consists 
in impregnating the wood with a solution of chloride of zinc. Yet an¬ 
other way is to thoroughly impregnate the timber with oil of tar con¬ 
taining creosote and a crude solution of acetate of iron. The process 
consists in putting the wood in a cylindrical vessel, connected with a 
powerful air pump. The air is withdrawn, and the liquid subjected to 
pressure, so that as much of it as possible is forced into the pores of the 
wood. The processes above given not only season the timber, so that it 
U. I.—11 


162 


MANUAL OF USEFUL IN FORM A TION. 


is not subject to dry rot, but also keep it from being injured by the 
weather, or being attacked by insects or worms. 

To Transfer Engravings.— It is said that engravings may be 
transferred on to white paper as follows: Place the engraving a few sec¬ 
onds over the vapor of iodine. Dip a slip of white paper into a weak 
solution of starch, and when dry, into a weak solution of oil of vitriol. 
When again dry, lay the slip upon the engraving and place both for a 
few minutes under a press. The engraving will be reproduced in all its 
delicacy and finish. Lithographs and printed matter cannot be so trans¬ 
ferred with equal success. 

Luminous Paint. —This useful paint may, it is said, be made by the 
following simple method: Take oyster shells and clean them with warm 
water; put them into the fire for half an hour; at the end of that time 
take them out and let them cool. When quite cool pound them fine 
and take away any gray parts, as they are of no use. Put the powder in 
a crucible in alternate layers with flour and sulphur. Put on the lid and 
cement with sand made into a stiff paste with beer. When dry, put over 
the fire and bake for an hour. Wait until quite cold before opening the 
lid. The product ought to be white. You must separate all gray parts, 
as they are not luminous. Make a sifter in the following manner: Take 
a pot, put a piece of very fine muslin very loosely across it, tie around 
with a string, put the powder into the top, and rake about until only the 
coarse powder remains; open the pot and you will find a very small pow¬ 
der; mix it into a thin paint with gum water, as two thin applications 
are better than one thick one. This will give a paint that will remain 
luminous far into the night, provided it is exposed to light during the 
day. 

Making Blackboards. —The following directions for this work are 
given by an experienced superintendent: The first care must be to 
make the wall surface or boards to be blacked perfectly smooth. Fill 
all the holes and cracks with plaster of Paris mixed with water; mix but 
little at a time; press in and smooth down with a case-knife. The cracks 
between shrunken boards may be filled in the same way. Afterward use 
sandpaper. The ingredients needed for slating are (1) liquid gum shel¬ 
lac, sometimes called shellac varnish; (2) lampblack or drop black. Gum 
shellac is cut in alcohol, and the liquid can be obtained of any druggist. 
Pour some shellac into an open dish, and stir in lampblack to make a 
heavy paint. With a clean brush, spread on any kind of surface but 
glass. Put on a little and test it. If it is glossy and the chalk slips over 
it, reduce the mixture with alcohol. Alcohol can be bought of any drug¬ 
gist. If it rubs off, let the druggist put in more gum to make the liquid 
thicker. One quart of the liquid and a five cent paper of lampblack are 
sufficient to slate all the blackboards in any country school with two 
coats. 


HARMONY AND RELATIONS OF COLORS. 

Most persons have observed that colors, -when brought together, 
mutually set each other off to advantage, while others have altogether a 
different effect. This must be carefully attended to by every painter who 
would study beauty or elegance in the appearance of his work. 

Whites will set off with any color whatever. 

Reds set off best with whites, blacks or yellows. 

Blues set off best with whites or yellows. 



HANDICRAFT AND INTENTION 


163 


Greens set offbest with blacks and whites. 

Gold sets off best with blacks or browns. 

In lettering or edging with gold a white ground has a delicate ap¬ 
pearance for a time, but it soon becomes dingy. 

The best grounds for gold are Saxon blue, vermilion and lake, 
hollowing are the colors to be derived by mixing two or more pig¬ 
ments: 


Buff.Mix together—White, Yellow, Ochre, Red. 

Chestnut. “ Red, Black, Yellow. 

Chocolate. “ Raw Umber, Red, Black. 

Claret. “ Red, Umber, Black. 

Copper. “ Red, Yellow, Black. 

Dove. “ White, Vermilion, Blue, Yellow. 

Drab. “ White, Yellow, Ochre, Red, Black. 

Fawn . “ White, Yellow, Red. 

Flesh. “ White. Yellow, Ochre, Vermilion. 

Freestone. “ Red, Black, Yellow Ochre, Vermilion. 

French Gray.. “ White, Prussian Blue, Lake. 

Gray. “ White Read, Black. 

Gold. “ White, Stone Ochre, Red. 

Green Bronze. “ Chrome Green, Black, Yellow. 

Lemon. “ White, Chrome Yellow. 

Limestone. “ White, Yellow Ochre, Black, Red. 

Olive. “ Yellow, Blue, Black, White. 

Orange . “ Yellow and Red 

Peach. “ -White and Vermilion. 

Pearl . “ White, Black, Blue. 

Purple. “ Violet, with more Red and White. 

Rose . “ White, Madder Lake. 

Sandstone.. “ White, Yellow Ochre, Black, Red. 

Snuff. “ Yellow, Vandyke Brown. 

Violet... .. “ Red, Blue and White. 


THE PHONOGRAPH. 

The phonograph was discovered accidentally. Mr. T. A. Edison 
was at work on an apparatus for recording a telegraphic message, by 
having an armature (with a needle fastened in one end) of the sounder 
make indentations on a piece of tin foil wrapped around a cylinder. The 
message would thus be punctured or indented on this tin foil, then by 
substituting a blunt needle for the sharp one and turning the cylinder, 
the armature would be vibrated as the needle entered into and passed out 
of the indentations. While experimenting, he turned the cylinder very 
rapidly, and instead of a succession of “clicks,” a musical sound was 
produced. He seized the idea, and the Edison Phonograph was the re¬ 
sult. The perfected phonograph of today consists of a cylinder of wax, 
or other plastic material, which is revolved either by hand, foot power or 
an electric motor. This cylinder, called the phonogram , is used for re¬ 
cording the sound. This is done by a diaphragm—such as is used in a 
telephone—into the center of which is fastened a sharp needle, which 
rests upon and just touches the phonogram. When the words are spoken 
the diaphragm vibrates, moving this needle up and down, and a series of 
indentations are made in a spiral line on the phonogram, which is turn¬ 
ing around about eighty-five times a minute. To make the phonograph 
speak , or repeat the words, another diaphragm, similar to the first or re¬ 
corder, but having a blunt instead of a sharp needle, is placed at the 
starting point, and the phonogram made to revolve; of course, as the 
needle passes over the indentations it vibrates the diaphragm, and the 
words are reproduced—as in a telephone. 





























164 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


SYNOPSIS OF GREAT INVENTIONS. 


INVENTION. 


INVENTOR. 


DATE. 


Air Gun. 

Air Pump. 

Anastatic Printing. . 

Anchor. 

Anemometer. 

Balloon. 

Barometer. 

Bellows. 

Camel machine. 

Camera Lucida . 

Camera Obscura. 

Cannon. 

Chronoscope. 

Clock . 

Compass. 

Cotton Gin. 

Dial... 

Diving Bell. 

Electric Clock. 

Electric Eight. 

Electrotype. 

Engraving. 

Fire Arms. 

Fire Engine. 

Gas. 

Gas Meter. 

Geographical Maps.. 

Glass. 

Gunpowder. 

Hydraulic Press. 

Hydraulic Ram. 

Kaleidoscope. 

Lightning Conductor 

Lithography. 

Locomotive. 

Matches. 

Microscope. 

Organ. 

Phonograph. 

Photography. 

Piano Forte . 

Pneumatic Railway.. 

Stocking Frame. 

Printing. 

Railroad. 

Ruling Machine. 

Sewing Machine. 

Steamboat. 

Steam Engine. 

Telegraph. 

Torpedo. 

Telephone. 

Telescope. 

Thermometer. 

Watch. 


Marin. 

Otto von Guericke. 

Baldermus. 

Anacharsis... 

Wolfius . 

Montgolfier. ... . 

Evangelista Torricelli. 

Anacharsis the Scythian . 

Meuvis Neindertzoou Bakker. 

Dr. Hooke. 

Roger Bacon. 

Chinese (Brass Cannon to John Owen).... 

Wheatstone. 

First one erected in Padua. 

Chinese.i. 

Eli Whitney. 

Anaximander... 

Unknown. 

Wheatstone. 

Sir Humphrey Davy. 

Spencer and Jacobi. 

Chinese... 

Unknown.... 

Hautsch. 

Van Helmont. 

Clegg . 

Anaximander. 

Phoenicians. 

Barthold Schwarz. 

Joseph Bramah. 

Montgolfier. 

David Brewster.'.. 

Benjamin Franklin. 

Alois Senefelder. 

Watt. 

Walker. 

Zacharias Jansen.. 

Archimedes and Ctesibius.. 

Thomas A. Edson.. 

Thomas Wedgwood. 

Bartolommeo Christofali . 

Henry Pinkus. 

William Lee. 

Johann Gutenburg. 

Beaumont.. 

J By a Hollander; subsequently improved by 

I Payne, Woodmason and Brown. 

Elias Howe. 

Robert Fulton. 

James Watt. 

Samuel F. B. Morse. 

David Bushnell. 

j Elisha Gray, A. Graham Bell, A. C. Dolbear 

I and Thomas A. Edison . 

Hans Lippersheim, Jacob Adriansz. 

Dredbel, Sanctorius. 

J Said to have been first invented at Nurem- 
\ berg, 1477*.. . 


.1595 

. 654 

.1841 

. 594 BC 

.1709 

.1783 

.1643 

. 593 BC 

.1688 

...1635-1703 

.1297 

.About 618 BC 

.1840 

..11th Century 

.1115 BC 

.1793 

. 550 BC 

.1509 

.1840 

.1813 

.1837 

.1000 BC 

.1364 

.1657 

...1600-1625 

.1815 

. 550 BC 


....1320 
.... 1796 
.... 1797 
.. ..1814 
...1752 
.... 1798 
....1759 
....1827 
....1590 
220- 100 BC 
....1877 
....1802 
....1714 
. ..1835 
.... 1589 
.... 1438 
.... 1672 

.... 1782 

....1841 
....1807 
.... 1763 
....1837 
.... 1777 

...". 1877 

.... 1608 
....1609 

.... 1477 


* It is affirmed that Robert, King of Scotland, had a watch about 1310. Spring 
watches have been ascribed to Dr. Hooke, and by some to Huyghens, about 1658; the 
anchor escapement, by Clement, 1680; the horizontal watch by Graham, 1724- repeating- 
watches by Barlowe in 1776. 






























































































































MONEY AND FINANCE. 


Mammon, the least-erected spirit that fell 
From heaven; for e’en in heaven his looks and thoughts 
Were always downward bent, admiring more 
The riches of heaven’s pavement, trodden gold, 

Than aught, divine or holy, else enjoyed. 

—Milton. 


FACTS AND DEFINITIONS PECUNIARY. 

Gold was first discovered in California in 1848. 

Exchanges originated in the commercial cities of Italy. 

Money simply means “a common medium of exchange.” 

The first currency used in this country was the Indian wampum. 

National banks were first established in the United States in 1816. 

International Monetary Conferences were instituted at Paris in 1878. 

The highest denomination of United States legal tender notes is 

# 10 , 000 . 

Bills of exchange were first used by the Jews in 1160, and in Eng¬ 
land in 1307. 

The term “Almighty Dollar” seems to have been first used by 
Washington Irving. 

Collateral security is an additional and separate security for the per¬ 
formance of an obligation. 

Seneca concluded that “ money is a greater torment in the posses¬ 
sion than it is in the pursuit.” 

The original English exchange at London was called the “Burse,” 
and was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1571. 

During the complicated process of manufacturing stamps they are 
counted eleven times in order to guard against pilfering. 

A sinking fund is a fund formed by setting aside income every year 
to accumulate at interest for the purpose of paying off debt. 

To have your errands rightly done, says an Oriental, you must 
employ a messenger who is deaf, dumb and blind—and that is money. 

Skins, cattle, shells, corn, pieces of cloth, mats, salt and many other 
commodities have at different times and places been used as “money.” 

The largest circulation of paper money is that of the United States, 
being seven hundred millions, while Russia has six hundred and seventy 
millions. 


165 



166 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Money is a terrible blab, says Bulwer; she will betray the secrets of 
her owner, whatever he do to "gag her; she will whisper of his virtues 
and cry aloud his vices. 

Indorsement is the term generally used to denote the writing of the 
name of the holder on the back of a bill of exchange or promissory 
note, on transferring or assigning it to another. 

Circular notes are bank-notes specially adapted for the use of trav¬ 
elers in foreign countries. Being bills personal to the bearer, they are 
more safe as traveling money than ordinary notes or coin. 

Impartial writers say that the gold contained in the medals, vessels, 
chains and other objects preserved in the Vatican would make more gold 
coins than the whole of the present European circulation. 

Pine-tree money was the name given to silver money coined at 
Boston, Massachusetts, in the seventeenth century (from 1652) and so 
called from the coins bearing the rude figure of a pine-tree on one side. 

Colton advises that, to cure us of our immoderate love of money, we 
should reflect how many goods there are that money will not buy, and 
these the best; and how many evils it will not remedy, and these the 
worst. 

Debentures are deeds charging property with the repayment of a 
loan with a certain amount of interest. They are also issued by customs 
officers, and entitle a merchant to bounty or drawback on goods ex¬ 
ported. 

Coupon is a term signifying any billet, check or other slip of paper 
cut off from its counterpart. It is, however, applied chiefly to a divi¬ 
dend or interest warrant, which is presented for payment by holders of 
bonds of indebtedness. 

In round numbers, the weight of $1,000,000 in standard gold coin 
is one and three-fourths tons; standard silver coin, twenty-six and three- 
fourths tons; subsidiary silver coin, twenty-five tons; minor coin, five- 
cent nickel, one hundred tons. 

An annuity is a payment generally (but not necessarily) of uniform 
amount falling due in each year during a given term, such as a period of 
years or the life of an individual; and payable, either in one sum at the 
end of the year, or by half yearly or other instalments. 

The term Lac, or Lakh, from a Sanskrit word meaning “one hundred 
thousand,” is generally employed in India to indicate 100,000 rupees, 
the nominal value of which is $48,600; but in consequence of the depre¬ 
ciation in the value of silver the real value is only $40,500. 

The continental money consisted of bills of credit issued by Congress 
during the War of Independence, which were to be redeemed with Span¬ 
ish milled dollars. Two hundred million dollars worth were issued, 
but they were never redeemed, and caused much suffering. 

The financial term budget is cognate with the French bougette, a 
small bag. In Great Britain, from long usage, it is applied to that mis¬ 
cellaneous collection of matters which aggregate into the annual finan¬ 
cial statement made to parliament by the chancellor of the exchequer. 

Trusts are combinations of capitalists for the purpose of restricting 
production and increasing the price of the manufactures, etc., in which 
the members of the trusts are interested. Trusts were first introduced by 
American capitalists, and are in principle similar to syndicates, unions, 


MONEY AND FINANCE. 


167 


etc. The operations of trusts in the United States, where they prevail 
extensively, were investigated by a committee of the U. S. Senate, which 
issued an adverse report in 1888. Among large trusts have been the salt 
trust in England, and the Copper Syndicate in France. 

Calculating machines were invented to perform mathematical opera¬ 
tions by a series of toothed wheels, etc. The first was devised by Pascal, 
1650. The most celebrated is that constructed by the late Mr. Babbage 
(1821-33), who received a sum of $75,000 from the Parliament for his in¬ 
vention. 

The capital employed in banking in the principal countries is as fol¬ 
lows: Great Britain, $4,020,000,000; United States, $2,655,000,000; 
Germany, $1,425,000,000; France, $1,025,000,000; Austria, $830,000,000; 
Russia, $775,000,000; Italy, $455,000,000; Australia, $425,000,000; Canada, 
$175,000,000. 

Stock jobbing is a speculative business on the Stock Exchange. It 
includes all “time bargains” in which there is no transference of stock, 
but simply a payment of the difference by the buyer or the seller accord¬ 
ing as the price of the stock at the time appointed stands above or below 
the price named in the bargain. 

The Clearing House is an organized system by which bankers effect, 
atone central establishment, the collection and interchange of their bills, 
checks and other obligations; the result is a great diminution of labor and 
of the cash balances required for settlement. There are clearing houses 
at all the important financial centers. 

The word “boom’ ’ is frequently used of late in America and Britain and 
the colonies for a start or rapid development of commercial activity or 
speculation, as when shares go off, or prices go up “with a boom.” The 
w T ord is assumed to be suggested less by doom in the sense of noise, than 
by the rushing progress which often accompanies the noise. 

In round numbers the total amount of life insurance written by the 
different insurance companies of the world is $12,000,000,000. Of this 
sum $5,500,000,000 is placed in the United States. Between the years 
1880 and 1890 there was $2,500,000,000 new life insurance written in this 
country, and but $1,000,000,000 in the whole of the British empire. 

A letter of credit is a letter addressed to a correspondent at a distance, 
requesting him to pay a sum therein specified to the person named, or to 
hold the money at his disposal, and authorizing the correspondent to re¬ 
imburse himself for such payment, either by debiting it in account be¬ 
tween the parties, or by drawing on the first party for the amount. 

In 1600 the w r orld had in circulation ^29,000,000 gold, ^102,000,000 
silver and no paper; in 1890 there were ^840,000,000 gold, ^801,000,000 
and ^771,000,000 of paper money, a total of ^2,402,000,000—or nearly 
$12,000,000,000. This includes the money of Europe, the United States, 
and the colonies of Great Britain, France and Spain. No account is 
taken of the worthless currency of the South American states. 

The employment of two metals, like gold and silver, of fixed legal 
relative value, is termed bi-metallism. Till 1873 this had been the cus¬ 
tom for nearly two hundred years. One ounce of gold was then equal 
to fifteen and one-half ounces of silver. Up to 1873 silver was the stand¬ 
ard of Germany, as it is still of India, China and Japan; but in 1873 
gold was made the sole standard of Germany, and silver became a mere 
article of commerce and circulating counter, which varied in value 


168 


MANUAL OF USEFUL IN FORM A TION. 


according to circumstances. The relative value might be one ounce of 
gold worth twenty ounces of silver, or any other difference; and those 
countries which pay in silver pay more as the relative value of silver 
declines. Bi-metallists in the United States and elsewhere want to 
restore the fixed relative value of these metals. 

Currency is a term signifying originally the capacity of being current, 
or, as Johnson defines it, “the power of passing from hand to hand.” It 
is applied in practice to the thing that is so current, and generally to 
whatever, by being current among any nation or class of persons, serves 
as the money with which they buy commodities or pay their debts. 

The term bankrupt originated in connection with the money-changers 
of Italy. They sat in the market place with their money displayed on a 
bench (or banco , as it was called) before them. When one of these financial 
gentlemen failed his banco (or bench) was said to be broken, and he was 
styled a banco-rotto , or bankrupt. The modern bank inherits its name 
from the unimposin’g money bench (banco) of mediaeval Italy. 

The term bogus, meaning sham, forged, fraudulent, as bogus currency, 
bogus transactions , is said to be a corruption of Borghese, a swindler, 
who supplied the North American States with counterfeit bills, bills on 
fictitious banks, and sham mortgages. Some think the word a corrupt¬ 
ion of Hocus Pocus , and say that it refers to the German “Hocus Pocus 
Imperatus, wer nicht sieht ist blind.” The corresponding French term 
is Passe muscade. 

Tontine is a kind of life-annuity, shared by the subscribers to a loan, 
the annuity increasing to the survivors as the subscribers die. The plan 
was invented by Lorenzo Tonti, a Neapolitan banker, who settled in 
France about 1650. The tontine was adopted by Louis XIV. and Louis 
XV., and also in England, for the purpose of raising government loans. 
The “Tontine Lafarge,” opened in 1791, brought 1,218,000 francs to the 
French government in December, 1888. The same idea has been incor¬ 
porated into life insurance by several of the leading companies in the 
United States. 

Insurance is a contract under which one party, called the insurer or 
assurer, agrees, in consideration of a sum of money called the premium, 
to pay a larger sum of money to another party, called the insured or 
assured, on the happening of a designated contingency. Insurance has 
sometimes been said to be akin to gambling, but it is really the converse. 
The gambler seeks excitement and gain by the artificial manufacture of 
hazardous speculations. The prudent man resorts to insurance in order 
to secure peace of mind and immunity from the loss which might arise 
from contingencies beyond his control. The gambler creates or exagger¬ 
ates risks; the insurance office equalizes them. 

The Bank of England was projected by a Scotchman, William Pater¬ 
son and established 1694. It started with a Government loan of $6,000,- 
000 at eight per cent, secured on taxes. The charter appointed a governor 
and twenty four directors to be annually elected from members of the 
company possessing not less than $2,000 of stock. The South Sea Bubble 
(1720), the Jacobite Rebellion (1745), and the failure of a number of 
country banks (1792) seriously affected the bank. The Bank Charter Act 
of 1844 limited the note circulation to $70,000,000 against a like amount 
lent to the Government, unless a similar value in bullion were in hand. 
The Act was suspended during the panics of 1847, 1857 and 1866. 


MONEY AND FINANCE. 


169 


Sterling signifies money of the legalized standard of coinage of Great 
Britain and Ireland. The term, according to one theory, is a corruption 
of Easterling—a person from North Germany, on the continent of Eu¬ 
rope, and therefore from the east in geographical relation to England. 
The Easterlings were ingenious artisans who came to England in the 
reign of Henry III., to refine the siver money, and the coin they pro¬ 
duced was called moneta Esterlingorum—the money of the Esterlings. 

The Darien scheme was promulgated by William Paterson, founder 
of the Bank of England in 1695, for colonizing the Isthmus of Darien. 
Two million dollars were raised in Scotland for the purpose, and in 1698-9 
three expeditions set out. The settlements were not recognized by the 
English Government, and surrendered to the Spaniards in March 1700. 
The break-up of the scheme, like the South Sea scheme, John Daw’s 
Mississippi bubble, and the failure of the Panama canal, caused a great 
financial panic. 

The “South Sea Bubble” was a ruinous speculation which arose in 
England at the same time as the Mississippi Scheme in France. The 
South Sea Company (formed 1710) offered to take over the English 
national debt on consideration of 5 per cent, and to advance $37,835,000 
if the company were invested with the exclusive privilege of carrying 
on the South Sea trade; and these terms were accepted by the House of 
Commons. The shares, originally 77 x / 2 per cent, rose by midsummer, 
1720, to 1,000. The crash quickly followed; thousands were reduced to 
beggary. A parliamentary inquiry took place, disclosing fraudulent 
dealings, and Aislabie, chancellor of the exchequer, and others were 
expelled the House in 1721. 

Usury now means iniquitous or illegal interest, but formerly meant 
interest of any kind on money lent. The Mosaic law forbade a Jew to 
tak usury from a fellow r -countryman. Greek and Roman moralists 
mainly disapproved of any usury; the church fathers, the popes, the 
canon law absolutely forbacle it; hence the Jews had a kind of monopoly 
of usury at the Reformation. Luther condemned interest, while Calvin 
allowed it. A long series of laws were passed on the understanding that 
usury was wrong, but admitting many exceptions, the usury laws thus 
doing much harm and multiplying legal fictions. The moral question 
is still debated, and moralists such as Ruskin wax fierce against the tak¬ 
ing of interest. But it may broadly be said that modern civilization 
fully recognizes the admissibility of fair interest. 

Five States—Iowa, Vermont, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois— 
have no interest-bearing debt, and there are six or seven other States 
whose bonded debts are mere bagatelles. Among the number are New 
Jersey, Nebraska, Kentucky and California. To a foreigner or any one 
else not familiar with the facts this would convey the impression that 
the Americans bear an extremely light burden of debt. Such an idea 
would be somewhat modified, however, by the knowledge that the Atchi¬ 
son, Topeka & Santa Fe pays interest on $500,000,000 or more, the 
annual interest charge exceeding $25,000,000—almost as much as the 
entire interest charge of the federal government. The southern States 
have a bonded indebtedness of $144,000,000 in round numbers. The 
total bonded indebtedness of all the States in 1890 was $224,000,000, on 
which the annual interest charge was $10,000,000. The total bonded 
debt of the States is about one-third of the national intesest-bearing 
debt. 


170 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION 


The Mississippi Bubble, or the “South Sea Scheme,” of France; was 
projected by John Law, a Scotchman. It was so called because the pro¬ 
jector was to have the exclusive trade of Louisiana, on the banks of the 
Mississippi, on condition of his taking on himself the National Debt (in¬ 
corporated 1717, failed 1720). The debt was two hundred and eight mil¬ 
lions sterling. Law made himself sole creditor of the debt, and was 
allowed to issue ten times the amount in paper money, and to open 
“The Royal Bank of France,” empowered to issue this paper currency. 
So long as a twenty-franc note was worth twenty francs, the scheme w r as 
a prodigious success, but immediately the paper money was at a discount, 
a run on the bank set in, and the whole scheme burst. 

During the civil war (1861-1865) the immense expenditure of the United 
States government led to the printing of an unprecedented number of bank¬ 
notes, bonds, and currency papers of various kinds. These documents, 
from the color presented by them, or some of them, obtained the name of 
Greenbacks, a designation which came to be loosely used for all United 
States bank notes. The first “demand notes” were issued in August 
1861; the first greenbacks proper were of date March 10, 1862. Soon 
forged notes and bonds were in circulation, but by degrees a large estab¬ 
lishment was organized at Washington, under the immediate control of 
the Secretary to the Treasury, and the precautions used were such as 
almost completely to baffle forgers. The paper currency, whose value 
had fluctuated greatly, was declared convertible into coin on 1st January 
1879, and specie payments completely resumed. 


A LESSON TO BORROWERS. 

Peter Cooper was one of the most successful, careful and prudent 
business men of his time. He was strongly opposed to the methods of 
many merchants who launched out into extravagant enterprises on bor¬ 
rowed money, for which they paid exhorbitant rates of interest. The 
following anecdote illustrates this point very forcibly: 

Once, while talking about a project w r ith an acquaintance, the latter 
said he would have to borrow the money for six months, paying interest 
at the rate of 3 per cent per month. 

“Why do you borrow for so short a time?” Mr. Cooper asked. 

“Because the brokers will not negotiate bills for longer.” 

“Well, if you wish,” said Mr. Cooper, “I will discount your note 
at that rate for three years. ’ ’ 

“Are you in earnest?” asked the would-be borrower. 

“Certainly I am. I will discount your note for $10,000 for threa 
years at that rate. Will you do it?” 

“Of course I will,” said the merchant. 

“Very well,” said Mr. Cooper; “just sign this note for $10,000, 
payable in three years, and give your check for $800, and the transaction 
will be complete.” 

‘ ‘ But where is the money for me?’ ’ asked the astonished mer¬ 
chant. 

“You don’t get any money,” was the reply. “Your interest 
for thirty-six months at 3 per centum per month amounts to 108 
per centum, or $10,800; therefore your check for $800 just makes us 
oven.” 

The force of this, practical illustration of the folly of paying such 
an exorbitant price for the use of money was such that the merchant 



MONEY AND FINANCE. 


171 


determined never to borrow at such ruinous rates, and he frequently 
used to say that nothing could have so fully convinced him as this 
rather humorous proposal by Mr. Cooper. 


NATIONAL DEBTS OF THE WORLD. 


Argentine Republic 
Australian Colonies 
Austria-Hungary ... 

Austria. 

Hungary. 

Belgium. 

Bolivia. 

Brazil. 

Canada.. 

Chili.. . 

China.. 

Colombia. 

Denmark... 

Ecuador. 

Egypt. 

France. 

Germany. 

German States. 

Great Britain. 

Greece. 

Hawaii. 

India, British. 


$611,415,880 

Italy. 

4,362,890,000 

787,692,605 

Japan . 

249,108,517 

2,322,658,340 

Mexico... 

203,244,300 

1,615,190,165 

Netherlands. 

452,000,000 

657,468,075 

Norway. 

37,596,079 

422,464,275 

Paraguay. 

5,151,891 

6,500;000 

Persia.... 

No debt. 

598,658.310 

Peru. 

367,226,890 

286,112,295 

Portugal. 

490,493,599 

80,568,887 

Roumania. 

171,292,560 

38,500,000 

Russia. 

3,731,103,600 

29,163,480 

Servia.,. 

62,550,000 

54,369,325 

Siam. 

No debt. 

13,738,490 

Spain. 

1,299,500,000 

518,625,840 

Sweden. 

66,412,279 

*6,427,500,000 

Switzerland. 

7,543,273 

307,500,000 

Turkey. 

900,000,000 

1,827,977,750 

3,449,720,135 

United States. 

1,549,296,126 

Uruguay. . 

72,205,722 

91,618,340 

Venezuela. 

20,556,260 

1,936,500 

928,355,780 

Total. 

35,040,265,657 


* This is the estimate of Whitaker. M. Tirard, the late Prime Minister of France, 
has estimated that the engagements of the French Treasury, the redemption of which 
is obligatory at a date not later than 1960, amounts to $7,174,907,310. 


GOLD AND SILVER PRODUCTION IN FIVE HUNDRED YEARS. 


COUNTRIES. 

GOLD. 

SILVER. 

Tons. 

Value. 

Ratio. 

Tons. 

Value. 

Ratio. 

A frir#). 

740 

$520,000,000 

7.1 




Australia ... .., r 

1,840 

1,290,000,000 

17.8 




Austria. 

460 

325,000,000 

4.4 

7,930 

$305,000,000 

*4.i 

Brazil. 

1,040 

725,000,000 

10.0 




Germany... 


8,470 

325,000,000 

*4.4 

Mexico ,,, . t . 




78,600 

3,040,000,000 

40.7 

T>prn pfp . 




72,000 

2,770,000,000 

37.3 

Russia.. . 

1,235 

865,000,000 

12.6 

3,200 

120,000,000 

1.7 

Spanish America 

2,220 

1,550,000,000 

21.5 




United States. 

2,042 

1,430,000,000 

19.7 

11*600 

445 000,000 

6.08 

Other Countries. 

778 

535,000,000 

7.5 

11,200 

430,000,000 

5.8 

The World. 

10,355 

$7,240,000,000 

100.0 

193,000 

$7,435,000,000 

100.0 


The estimates in this table of gold and silver production for five hundred years 
(1380-1880) are made by Mulhall. _ 


THE STANDARD SILVER DOLLAR. 

The coinage of the standard silver dollar was first authorized by Act 
of April 2, 1792. Its weight was to be 416 grains standard silver; fineness, 
892.4; which was equivalent to 371>{ grains of fine silver, with 44^f grains 
of pure copper allo}\ This weight was changed by act of January 18, 
1837, to 412^ grains, and fineness changed to 900, thus preserving 
the same amount of pure silver as before. By act of February 12, 1873, 
the coinage was discontinued. The total number of silver dollars coined 




























































































172 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


from 1792 to 1873 was 8,045,838. The act of 1873 provided for the coinage 
of the “trade dollar,” of weight 420 grains, and an act passed in June, 
1874, ordered that all silver coins should only be “legal tender at their 
nominal value for amounts not exceeding $5. ’ ’ The effect of these acts was 
the “demonetization” of silver, of which so much has been said. Feb¬ 
ruary 28, 1878, the coinage of the standard dollar of 412^ grains was re¬ 
vived by act of Congress; $2,000,000 per month was ordered coined, and 
the coins were made legal tender for all debts, public and private. From 
February, 1878 to November 1, 1885, 213,257,594 of these standard dollars 
were coined under the above act. 

GREAT FINANCIAL PANICS, 

The most remarkable crises since the beginning of the present cent¬ 
ury have been as follows: 

1814. England, two hundred and forty banks suspended. 

1824. Manchester, failures, two millions sterling. 

1831. Calcutta, failures, fifteen millions. 

1837. United States, “Wild-cat” crisis, all banks closed. 

1839. Bank of England saved by Bank of France. Severe also in France, where 
ninety-three companies failed for six millions. 

1844. England. State loans to merchants. Bank of England reformed. 

1847. England, failures, twenty millions, discount, thirteen percent. 

1857. United States, seven thousand two hundred houses failed for one hundred and 
eleven millions. 

1860. London, Overend-Gurney crisis; failures exceeded one hundred millions. 

1869. Black Friday in New York (Wall street,) September 24. 


a “PENNY-WISE” TABLE. 


The way to accumulate money is to save small sums with regularity. 
A small sum saved daily for fifty years will grow at the following rate: 


DAILY SAVINGS. RESULT. 

One cent. $950 

Ten cents. 9,504 

Twenty cents. 19,006 

Thirty cents. 28,512 

Forty cents. 38,015 

Fifty cents. 47,520 


DAILY SAVINGS. RESULT. 

Sixty cents. $57,024 

Seventy cents. 66,528 

Eighty cents. 76,032 

Ninety cents. 85,537 

One Dollar-. 475,208 


MERCHANTS’ COST AND PRICE MARKS. 

All merchants use private cipher marks to note cost or selling price 
of goods. The cipher is usually made up from some short word or sent¬ 
ence of nine or ten letters, as: 

CORNELIUS, A. 

123456789 0. 

Five dollars, according to this key, would be eaa. But generally an 
extra letter is used to prevent repeating the mark for 0. If the sign for 
a second 0 in this case werejy, we would have eay instead of eaa . 


AVERAGE IMPORT DUTIES IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES. 


Great Britain. 

France . 

Germany .... 

Russia. 

Austria. 

Italy. 

Spain. 

Portugal. 

Holland. 


RATIO TO 
IMPORTS 
PER CENT. 


5 * 

6V 2 

6 

18 


5 

11 

24 

26 

I 


Belgium. 

Denmark. 

Sweden and Norway 

Europe. 

United States. 

Canada . 

Australia. 

Brazil. 

Argentine Republic 


RATIO TO 
IMPORTS 
PER CENT. 
• 1 % 

. 9 

. 12 
• • 7)4 

.. 28 
.. 15 
.. 13 
.. 44 

,. 37 





































MONEY AND FINANCE. 


173 


THE BANKRUPT LAWS. 

Properly speaking, the Bankrupt Law is a thing of the past. 

Laws have been enacted, however, in nearly all the States for the 
purpose of distributing the property of an insolvent debtor proportion¬ 
ately among his creditors and discharging the debtor from further liabil¬ 
ity. Proceedings may be instituted by the debtor himself or by a 
creditor. As a rule, proceedings in one State are not binding on a cred¬ 
itor residing in another State; but if Congress were to pass a national 
bankrupt law, this would annul all State laws on the subject, and pro¬ 
ceedings under the national law would bind creditors in all the States 
and Territories. 

Insolvency proceedings are generally commenced by a petition to 
the Judges of the court of insolvency, setting forth among other things 
the debtor’s inability to pay all his debts in full, and his desire to sur¬ 
render all his property for the benefit of his creditors. 

If satisfied of the truth of matters alleged in the petition, the judge 
issues an order commanding the proper officer to take the debtor’s prop¬ 
erty and hold it until a certain time, when the creditors meet and choose 
an assignee. 

The assignee then takes charge of the property, turns it into money, 
and declares a dividend for the creditors. 

Pending the proceedings, the debtor may be examined on oath for 
the purpose of making him disclose all matters concerning his property 
and the disposal thereof. 

If the debtor has conformed to the insolvent law in all respects, he 
is entitled to a discharge from his debts, which is given him by the 
judge on the debtor’s obtaining the requisite assent from the creditors. 

In nearly all the States an insolvent debtor may, with the consent 
of his creditors, and in some States without such consent, assign all his 
property to a trustee for the benefit of his creditors, who converts it into 
money, dividing it pro rata among the creditors. 


SHORT INTEREST RULES. 


To find the interest on a given sum for any number of days, at any 
rate of interest, multiply the principal by the number of days and divide 
as follows: 


At 3 per cent, by. 120 

At 4 per cent, by. 90 

At 5 per cent, by. 72 

At 6 per cent, by. 60 

At 7 per cent, by. 5- 

At 8 per cent, by . 45 


At 9 per cent, by ... 40 

At 10 per cent, by. 36 

At 12 per cent, by.... 30 

At 15 per cent, by. 24 

At 20 per cent, by... 18 


ABOUT TRADE DISCOUNTS. 

Wholesale houses usually invoice their goods to retailers at “list” 
prices. List prices were once upon a time supposed to be retail prices, 
but of late a system of ‘ ‘ long’ ’ list prices has come into vogue in many 
lines of trade—that is, the list price is made exorbitantly high, so that 
wholesalers can give enormous discounts. These discounts, whether 
large or small, are called trade discounts, and are usually deducted at a 
certain rate per cent from the face of invoice. 

The amount of discount generally depends upon size of bill or terms 
of settlement, or both. Sometimes two or more discounts are allowed. 
















174 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Thus 30% and 5% is expressed 30 and 5, meaning first a discount of 30% 
and then 5% from the remainder. 

Thirty and 5 is not 35%, but 33^%. Ten, 5 and 3 off means three 
successive discounts. 

A wholesale house allowing 10, 5 and 3 off gets more for its goods 
than it would at 18 off. 

WONDERS OF COMPOUND INTEREST. 


TIME IN WHICH MONEY DOUBLES. 


Per 

Cent. 

Simple Interest. 

Compound Int. 

2 

50 years. 

35 years. 

2 % 

40 years. 

28 years 26 days. 

3 

33 years 4 montns. 

23 years 164 days. 

3 1 / 2 

28 years 208 days. 

20 years 54 days. 

4 

25 years. 

17 years 246 days. 

4*4 

22 years 81 days. 

15 years 273 days. 


Per 

Cent. 

Simple Interest. 

Compound Int. 

5 

20 years. 

14 years 75 days. 

6 

16 years 8 months. 

11 years 327 days. 

7 

14 years 104 days. 

10 years 89 days. 

8 

12*4 years. 

9 years 2 days. 

9 

11 years 40 days. 

8 years 16 days. 

10 

10 years. 

7 years 100 days. 


DAILY SAVINGS AT COMPOUND INTEREST. 


Daily Savings. 

Yearly. 

Ten Years. 

Fifty Years. 

2% cents. 

$ 10 

$ 130 

$ 2,900 

514 “ . 

20 

260 

5,800 

814 “ . 

30 

390 

8,700 

11 “ . 

40 

520 

11,600 

13% “ . 

50 

650 

14,500 

27*4 “ . 

100 

1.300 

29 000 

55 “ . 

200 

2,600 

58,000 

$1.10 . 

400 

5,200 

116,000 

1.37 . 

500 

6,500 

145.000 

2.74 . 

1,000 

13,000 

290,000 


HOW COMPOUND INTEREST ACCUMULATES. 

If one dollar be invested and the interest added to the principal, annually, at the 
rates named, we shall have the following result as the accumulation of one hundred 


years: 

One dollar 100 vears, at 1 per cent. 
“ 2 

“ 2 y s 

“ 3 

“ 3 % 

“ ' 4 

“ 4*4 

“ 5 

“ 6 

*• 7 

“ 8 

“ 9 

“ 10 

“ 12 

“ 15 

“ 18 

“ 24 


$2.75 

7.25 

11.75 

19.25 

31.25 

50.50 

81.50 

131.50 
340.00 
868.00 

2,203.00 

5,543.00 

13,809.00 

34,675.00 

1,174,405.00 

15,145,007.00 

2,551,799,404.00 


SLANG OF THE STOCK BROKER. 

Accommodation Paper. —Notes or bills not representing an actual sale or trade 
transaction, but merely drawn to be discounted for the benefit of drawer, acceptor or 
indorser, or all combined. ’ ^ 

Balance of Trade.— Difference in value between total imports and exports of a 
country. 

Ballooning.— To workup a stock far beyond its intrinsic worth by favorable stories 
or fictitious sales. 

Buying Long.— Buying in expectation of a rise. 



























































MONEY AND FINANCE, 


175 


Breadstuffs.—A ny kind of grain, corn or meal. 

Broker.—A n agent or factor; a middleman paid by commission. 

Brokerage.—A percentage for the purchase or sale of money and stocks. 

Bull and Bear.—T he “bull” is a stock exchange speculator who “goes long” on 
stocks, trusting to a rising market; while the “bear” is one who sells stock “short,” 
which he does not possess, and who speculates for a decline. “Bulls and bears” is a 
colloquialism for the whole fraternity of stock speculators. 

Call.—D emand for payment of installments due on stocks. 

Call.—A privilege given to another to “call” for delivery at a time and price 
fixed. 

Clique.—A combination of operators controlling large capital in order to unduly 
expand or break down the market. 

Collaterals.— Any kind of values given in pawn when money is borrowed. 

Corners.— The buying up of a large quantity of stocks or grain to raise the price 
When the market is oversold, the shorts, if compelled to deliver, find themselves in a 
“corner.” 

Curbstone Brokers.— Brokers or agents who are not members of any regular 
organization, and do business mainly on the sidewalk. 

Delivery.— When stock or grain is brought to the buyer in exact accordance with 
the rules of the Exchange, it is called a good delivery. When there are irregularities, 
the delivery is pronounced bad, and the buyer can appeal to the Exchange. 

Differences.— The price at which a stock is bargained for and the rate or day of 
delivery are not usually the same, the variation being termed the difference. 

Factor.—A n agent appointed to sell goods on commission. 

Factorage.—C ommissions allowed factors. 

Flat.—I nactive, depressed, dull. The flat value of bonds and stocks is the value 
without interest. 

Flyer.—A small side operation, not employing one’s whole capital. 

Forcing Quotations is where brokers wish to keep up the price of a stock and to 
prevent its falling out of sight. This is generally accomplished by a small sale. 

Gunning a stock is to use every art to produce a break when it is known that a 
certain house is heavily supplied and would be unable to resist an attack. 

Kite-Flying.— Expanding one’s credit beyond wholesome limits. 

Dame Duck.—S tock-brokers’ slang for one unable to meet his liabilities. 

Eong.—O ne is long when he carries stock or grain for a rise. 

Pointer.—A theory or fact regarding the market on which one bases a specu- 

tion. 

Pool.—T he stock or money contributed by a clique to carry through a corner. 

Price Current.—T he prevailing price of merchandise, stock or securities. 

Selling Short.— To “sell short” is to sell for future delivery what one has not got, 
in hopes that prices will fall. 

Watering a stock is the art of doubling the quantity of stock without improving 
its quality. _ 


OUR BANKING SYSTEM EXPLAINED. 

The present system, known as the National Bank-note System of the 
United States, was devised—first, to secure in the most effective way a 
sure market for United States bonds, whose issue was rendered impera¬ 
tive by the continuance of the civil war; and, second, to provide a uni¬ 
form, safe and convenient monetary system for the promotion of busi¬ 
ness transactions and the development of trade and industries among the 
people. 

The first act of the National Congress, under which the system was 
organized, was approved February 25, 1863. The law was extensively 
revised and re-enacted June 3, 1864. Previous to these dates the system 
of State banks universally prevailed, of which there were, in the thirty- 
four States then existing, 1,601, with an aggregate capital of $429,000,000. 
More than 10,000 different kinds of bank-notes were in use in a total 
circulation of about $202,000,000. 

The act of 1864 provided for the establishment, in the Government 
Treasury Department at Washington, of a national bank bureau, with a 
chief officer, to be known as comptroller of the currency. Under the 
provisions of the law any number of persons, not less than five, might be 
organized into a national banking association, the capital in no case to 



176 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


be less than $100,000, except that in cities containing a population of 
not more than 6,000 the capital should not be less than $50,000; and in 
cities having a population of not less than 50,000 the capital must not 
be less than $200,000. Not less than one-third of the capital was re¬ 
quired to be invested in United States bonds, upon which circulating 
notes could be issued equal to 90 per cent of the current market value, 
but not exceeding 9 per cent of the par value of the bonds deposited. 
These were to be received at par in the United States in all payments to 
and from the Government, except for duties on imports, interest on the 
public debt, and in redemption of national currency. As early as March 3, 
1865, an important additional act was passed requiring that every bank¬ 
ing association should pay a tax of 10 per cent on the notes of any person 
or State bank used for circulation or paid out by them. This act virtu¬ 
ally resulted in taxing State bank circulation out of existence. 

A total issue of $300,000,000 of circulation was authorized by the act 
of 1864; but an act of May 12, 1870, authorized an increase of circulation 
to $354,000,000. Another act, that of June 20, 1874, provided that any 
bank by depositing with the United States Treasury in sums not less 
than $9,000 at a time, might withdraw a proportionate amount of the 
bonds on deposit as security for its circulating notes. An act passed 
January 14, 1875, removed all limitations as to the amount of the circulat¬ 
ing notes of the banks, except the restrictions in the provisions in the law 
then existing, but required the Treasurer to retire legal tender notes to 
the amount of 80 per cent of the additional bank-notes issued, and to 
continue such retirement until there should be a reduction of the legal 
tender notes to the amount of $300,000,000. The provision of the law re¬ 
quiring a reduction of legal tender notes was repealed May 31, 1878. 

The National Bank act also required that the national banks in the 
city of New York, and certain other “redeeming” cities, should hold 
in lawful money 25 per cent of their deposits and circulation as a reserve 
fund. Banks in other cities were required to hold a reserve of 15 per 
cent. 

With regard to interest on loans, the national banks were allowed 
to charge at the rate allowed by the States in which they were located, 
and in case the State had fixed no rate, the banks were allowed to charge 
7 per cent. 

Under the national banking law, shareholders are held individually, 
equally and ratably liable for all the debts of the association to the extent 
of their amount of stock in addition to the amount invested therein. 
Also the law required that before declaring a dividend, the bank should 
carry one-tenth of their net profits of the preceding half year to a surplus 
fund until the same should amount to 20 per cent of the capital. 

Originally the national banks realized a considerable profit from 
their circulating notes, but the high rate of premium commanded in the 
market in later years by the interest-bearing bonds of the United States, 
which the law requires the banks to deposit as security for their circu¬ 
lation, has rendered the issue of circulating notes in most localities un¬ 
profitable. Hence the banks rely chiefly on their deposits as their 
principal source of profit; these deposits are returned to the business 
public in the shape of loans properly secured, and thus the money is 
continually kept in circulation among the people. 


COINS, WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 


I praise not those 

Who in their petty dealings pilfer not, 

But him whose conscience spurns at secret fraud, 

When he might plunder and defy surprise. 

—Cumberland. 

HOME AND FOREIGN STANDARDS. 

A “stone” weight in England is fourteen pounds. 

Counterfeiting was formerly treason under British law. 

Abraham was “very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold.” 

Ninety coins per minute is fair working speed at the mint. 

The double eagle, 516 grains, is the heaviest American coin. 

A stiver was an ancient Dutch coin of about two cents value. 

The so-called “coppers” of British money are now all bronze. 

Five courses of brick will lay one foot in height on a chimney. 

The standard gallon contains just ten pounds’ weight of pure water. 

The carat, which is used to weigh diamonds, is equal to 3.17 Troy 
grains. 

Silver is only a legal tender in England to the amount of forty 
shillings. 

The Saxons used an ell, or yard of thirty-six inches, based on the 
Roman foot. 

The Lydians, according to Herodotus, were the first nation to use gold 
and silver coin. 

The coins of the Cromwellian period had the inscription in English 
instead of Latin. 

The moidore is a Portuguese gold coin, now almost extinct, worth 
about seven dollars. 

The first gold coin struck at Rome, 207 B.C., was the aureus, of the 
value of about six dollars. 

Modern Japanese coinage includes oblong pieces of gold and silver, 
as well as large oval plates. 

A cord of stone, three bushels of lime and a cubic yard of sand will 
lay 100 cubic feet of wall. 

The palm, or hand-breadth, was the original standard of measure, 
then the foot and cubit successively. 





178 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The so-called “Latin” Union was an agreement between France, 
Italy, Belgium and Switzerland (1865-80) to maintain a uniform coinage. 

One thousand shingles, laid four inches to the weather, will cover 
100 square feet of surface, and five pounds of shingle nails will fasten 
them on. 

One-fifth more siding and flooring is needed than the number of 
square feet of surface to be covered, because of the lap in the siding and 
matching. 

A denarius was a Roman silver coin, value about sixteen cents. It 
was used in France and England for ready money generally. It was 
also a weight (three scruples). 

A cubic foot of cork weighs 1.5 lbs.; of bees, 65 lbs.; of blood, 66 lbs.; 
of coal, 56 lbs.; of earth, 94 lbs.; of hay, 9 lbs.; of ice, 57 ]/ 2 lbs.; of 
copper, 547 lbs.; of cast iron, 450 lbs.; of gold, 1,203^ lbs.; of platina, 
1,219 lbs. 

To find the quantity of shelled corn in a crib of corn in the ear, 
measure the length, breadth and height of the crib, inside of the crib, 
multiply them together and divide them by two and you have the num¬ 
ber of bushels in the crib. 

One thousand laths will cover seventy yards of surface, and eleven 
pounds of lath nails will nail them on. Eight bushels of good lime, 
sixteen bushels of sand and one bushel of hair will make enough good 
mortar to plaster 100 square yards. 

Very large amounts of private gold coins were formerly minted in 
this country by individuals. Reid of Georgia, the Bechtlers of North 
Carolina, the Mormons in Utah, and several banking firms in California, 
all once did a large business in this line. 

A rupee is a silver coin, the standard or unit of the money system 
of India; value at par, fifty cents; 100,000 rupees = a lac; 100 lacs = a 
crore. Owing to the falling-off in the value of silver, a rupee is at pres¬ 
ent not worth more than thirty cents in gold. 

The picayune is a name derived from the Carib language, and used 
in Louisiana for a small coin worth six and one-fourth cents, current in 
the United States before 1857, and known in different states by various 
names (fourpence, fippence, fip, sixpence, etc.). 

The name of Bezants, or Byzantines, is given to the coins, either 
gold or silver, of the Byzantine empire. They varied in value from five 
dollars to two and a half dollars. As bezants were brought to England 
by the crusaders, they frequently occur as English heraldic charges. 

Goldsmiths and assayers divide the troy pound, ounce, or any other 
weight into twenty-four parts, and call each a carat, as a means of stating 
the proportion of pure gold contained in any alloy of gold with other 
metals. Thus the gold of our coinage and of wedding rings, which con¬ 
tains \\ of pure gold, is called “22-carats fine,” or 22-carat gold. 

A guinea was an English gold coin, so called from having been 
originally coined of gold brought from the Guinea cost in 1663. Its 
value has varied at different periods. At first it equalled twenty shil¬ 
lings, it was in 1685 worth thirty shillings, and in 1717 twenty-one shil¬ 
lings, beyond which price it was by an Act of Parliament in 1811 for¬ 
bidden to be sold, or exported. The issue of the sovereign (1817) virtually 
abolished the coinage of the guinea. 


COINS , WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 


179 


A cubit was a Roman measure of length, supposed to equal the 
length of the fore-arm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. 
It was 1 ]/ 2 Roman feet (17 English inches). The English cubit is lj£ 
English feet. The cubit of Scripture is generally estimated at twenty- 
two inches. 

It is a big job to count a trillion. Had Adam counted continuously 
from his creation to the present day, he would not have reached that 
number, for it would take him over 9,512 years. At the rate of 200 a 
minute, there could be counted 12,000 an hour, 288,000 a day, and 105,- 
120,000 a year. 

The scudo (Ital., “shield”), is an Italian silver coin corresponding 
to the Spanish piastre, the American dollar and the English crown. It 
was so called from its bearing the heraldic shield of the prince by whose 
authority it was struck, and differed slightly in value in the different 
states of Italy, the usual value being about one dollar. 

The tael is a money of account in China, and is equivalent to i tael 
weight of pure silver, or to about twelve hundred and fifty of the copper 
coin known as “cash.” The value of the Haikwan tael or customs tael 
is 4s. 9d., about $1.14, varying with the price of silver. In 1890 it was 
superseded by the new dollar, equal in value to our dollar. 

Gunter’s chain is a chain used for land measuring. It is twenty-two 
yards long, the square of which is 484. Now an acre is 4,840 square 
yards, and therefore a square chain is a tenth of an acre, or 10=1 acre. 
Again a chain contains 10,000 square links, and as 10 chains = an acre, 
it follows that 100,000 square links = an acre. So that, in measuring a 
field by a Gunter’s chain, all that is required is to divide the result by 
100,000, or (which is the same thing) to cut off the last five figures, to ob¬ 
tain the area in acres. 

The real is a silver coin and money of account in Spain, Mexico and 
other old Spanish possessions, and is the ^th part of the piastre, or 
of the peseta , the franc of the new Spanish decimal system, and has a 
value, varying with the exchange, of about five cents. The real was 
first coined in Spain in 1497. It is also a money of account in Portugal, 
being the equivalent of forty reis. In Java it is the name of a weight for 
gold and silver articles, corresponding to seventeen penny weights and 
fourteen grains troy weight. 

The “foot” is named from the length of that member in a full- 
grown man. Some say that it was so called from the length of the foot 
of a certain English king, but it is believed to have been a standard of 
measurement among the ancient Egyptians. The cubit is from the 
Latin cubitus, an elbow, and is the distance from the elbow to the end 
of the middle finger. Fathom is from the Aryan fat , to extend, and de¬ 
notes the distance from tip to tip of the fingers when the arms of an 
average-sized man are fully extended. 

The decimal system is that by which weights and measures are cal¬ 
culated by tens and multiples of ten. The basis of this system is the 
mUre = 39.37 in.; of liquid capacity the litre , one-tenth of the metre; of 
solid measure the st&re, the cube of the metre; of weight the grainme — 
one cubic centimetre of distilled water at 39.2° Fahr. The decimal sys¬ 
tem for money is used in France, where the franc (twenty cents) is the 
unit of value. The system also obtains in the United States, Italy, Spain, 
and other countries in Europe and elsewhere. 


180 


MANUAL OF USEFUL IN FORM A TION. 


Counterfeiting is the making of false money. In the United States 
the crime of counterfeiting coin or money is punishable with fine and 
imprisonment at hard labor for a term of from two to ten years; and in¬ 
cludes falsely making, forging or counterfeiting coins or notes, postal 
money orders, postal cards, government stamps of all kinds, and govern¬ 
ment securities, as also importing, possessing, uttering, or passing false 
coins or notes with fraudulent intent. Mutilating and debasing the coin 
is also counterfeiting, but is not so severely punished. 

The talent was the heaviest unit of weight among the Greeks. The 
word is used by Homer to signify indifferently a balance and a definite 
weight of some monetary currency. Silver coin was first struck in 
Hellas proper in the island of iEgina, and the vEginetan standard was 
apparently adapted to the Babylonian gold standard. The Babylonian 
commercial talent seems to have been either 65 pound, 5 ounces, or 66 
pound, 5 y 2 ounces, and its value in silver from $1,700 to $2,000. Deriva¬ 
tives of this (containing 3,000 shekels) were in use in Phoenicia and 
Palestine; but there was another silver talent, and a gold talent worth 
§ths of the commercial talent. The Euboic talent was of smaller mone¬ 
tary measure and weight than the ^Eginetan. 

ALL ABOUT AN ACRE. 

An acre is a measure of ground approximately adopted by most 
nations, which in America and England is 4,840 square yards. The 
chain with which land is measured is 22 yards long, and a square chain 
will contain 22x22, or 484 yards; so that 10 square chains make an acre. 
The acre is divided into 4 roods, a rood into 40 perches, and a perch con¬ 
tains 30X square yards. The old Scotch acre is larger than the English, 
and the Irish than the Scotch. Twenty-three Scotch acres = 29 imperial 
acres; 30 X Irish acres = 49 imperial acres. The hectare of the French 
metric system has on the Continent superseded almost all the ancient 
local measures corresponding to the acre—such as the Prussian morgen. 


English acre.1.00 

Scotch “ 1.27 

Irish “ 1.62 

| Hectare ( = 100 ares).2.47 

France J Arpent (old system).0.99 

j Little Morgen.0.63 

Prussia | Great Morgen.1.40 

United States, English acre.1.00 


CAPACITY OF A TEN-TON FREIGHT CAR. 


Whisky. 60 barrels. 

Lumber, green . 6 0C0 feet 

Salt. 70 “ 

Lime. 70 “ 

Flour. 90 “ 

Lumber, dry. 10,000 “ 

Barley. 300 bush. 

Wheat . 340 “ 

Eggs.. 130 to 160 *• 

Flour. 200 sacks. 

Apples. 370 “ 

Corn. 4nn “ 

Cattle. 18 to 20 head. 

Potatoes. d/to 4 4 

Hogs. 50 to 60 “ 

Oats. fifto 44 

Sheep.80 to 100 “ 

Bran. 1,000 “ 


MONEY OF THE WORLD. 

Brass money is spoken of by Homer as early as 1184 b. c. Gold 
and silver were coined by Pheidon, of Argos, 862 b. c. Coins were made 
sterling in 1216. New silver coinage struck, 1816; Jubilee coins struck, 
1887; first gold coin on record struck, 1257; sovereigns first coined, 1489*; 
































COINS , WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 


181 


shillings first coined, 1503; crowns and half-crowns struck, 1553; copper 
coined by Government, 1672; guineas, 1663; fourpenny-pieces, 1836; 
threepenny-pieces, 1843; silver florins, 1849; bronze coinage, 1860. In 
the reign of Elizabeth the amount of money coined was ^5,832,000. In 
1890 (Victoria) it reached a total of ^9,465,129. In the United States 
the first coinage was made for Virginia Company, 1612; first colonial 
coinage, 1652 (Mass); copper coined in Vermont and Connecticut, 1785; 
New Jersey and Massachusetts, 1786. Decimal coinage adopted by 
Congress, 1786, when following coins were issued: gold , eagle ($10), and 
half-eagle; silver , dollar and divisions of dollar; copper, cent and half- 
cent. The appended table shows the 


COUNTRY. 


Austria. -- 

Belgium. 

Brazil. 

Chili. 

Cuba. 

Denmark 

Egypt. 

Fiance 
Great Britain 

Greece. 

German Em¬ 
pire.. 

Hawaiian Isl¬ 
ands. ... 

India. 

Italy —.. 
Japan . 

Mexico. 

Netherlands 
Norway ... 
Portugal. ... 
Russia. 

Spain. 

Sweden. 

Switzerland.. 
Turkey. 


THE VAI/UE OF FOREIGN COINS. 


MONETARY UNIT. 

STANDARD. 

n 

VALUE 
IN U. S. 
MONEY. 

STANDARD COIN. 

Florin. 

Silver. 

.40,1 

.19,3 


Franc... 

Gold and silver 

5, 10 and 20 francs. 

Milreis of 1,000 reis 

Gold. 

.54,6 


Peso. . 

Gold and silver 

.91,2 

Condor, doubloon and escudo. 

Peso. 

Gold and silver 

.93,2 

T8> /ii 34, % and 1 doubloon. 

Krone. 

Silver. 

.26,8 

.04,9 

.19,3 

Krone=100 ore. 

Piaster . 

Gold. 

5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 piasters. 

5, 10 and 20 francs. 

Franc .. .. 

Gold and silver 

Pound sterling.... 

Gold. 

4.86,6i/ 2 

34 sovereign and sovereign. 

Drachma. 

Gold and silver 

.19,3 

5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 drachmas. 

Mark. 

Gold. 

.23,8 

1.00 

5, 10 and 20 marks. 

Dollar . . 

Gold. 

Rupee of 16 annas. 
Lira. 

Silver. 

.38,6 


Gold and silver 

.19,3 

5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 lire. 

Ven . 

Silver. 

.87,6 

1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 yen, gold and 
silver yen. 

Peso or dollar, 5, 10, 25 and 60 
centavo. 

Dollar 

Silver. 

.88,2 

.40,2 

Florin... 

Gold and silver 

Krone. 

Silver. 

.26,8 

Krone=100 ore. 

Milreis of 1,000 reis 

Gold. 

1.08 

2, 5 and 10 milreis. 

Rouble of 100 co- 

pppts. ... 

Silver. 

.65 

34, y 2 and 1 rouble 

5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pesetas. 

Peseta of 100 cen¬ 
times .. 

Gold and silver 

.19,3 

Krone. 

Silver.. . — 

.26,8 

Krone = 100 ore. 

Franc... 

Gold and silver 

.19,3 

5, 10 and 20 francs. 

Piaster . 

Gold. 

.04,4 

25, 50, 100, 250 and 500 pias¬ 




ters. 


WEIGHTS OF METALS WITHOUT WEIGHING. 
Wrought Iron.—Find the number of cubic inches in the piece; mul¬ 
tiply them by .2816. The product will be in pounds. 

Cast Iron.—Multiply the number of cubic inches by .2607. 

Copper.—Multiply the number of cubic inches by .3242. 

Lead.—Multiply the number of cubic inches by .41015. 

Brass.—Multiply the number of cubic inches by .3112. 


DOMESTIC WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 

One quart of wheat flour is one pound. One quart of com meal 
weighs eighteen ounces. One quart of butter, soft, weights fourteen to six¬ 
teen ounces. One quart of brown sugar weighs from a pound to a pound 
and a quarter, according to dampness. One quart of white sugar weighs 





























































182 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


two pounds. Ten medium sized eggs weigh one pound. A tablespoonful 
of salt is one ounce. Eight tablespoonfuls make a gill. Two gills or 
sixteen tablespoonfuls are half a pint. Sixty drops are one teaspoonful. 
Four tablespoonfuls are one wineglassful. Twelve tablespoonfuls are one 
teacupful. Sixteen tablespoonfuls, or half a pint, are one tumblerful. 

The Meaning of Measures. —A square mile is equal to 640 acres. 
A square acre is 208.71 feet on one side. An acre is 43,560 square feet. A 
league, 3 miles. A span, 10^ inches. A hand, 4 inches. A palm, 3 
inches. A great cubit, 11 inches. A fathom, 6 feet. A mile, 5,280 feet. 

Domestic and Drop Measures Approximated—A teaspoonful, 
one fluid dram, 4 grams; a dessertspoonful, tw r o fluid drams, 3 grams; a 
tablespoonful, half fluid ounce, 16 grams; a wineglassful, two fluid ounces, 
64 grams; a tumblerful, half pint, 256 grams. 


WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 

Troy Weight—24 grains make 1 pennyweight, 20 pennyweights make 1 ounce. 
By this weight, gold, silver and jewels only are weighed. The ounce and pound in this 
are same as in Apothecaries’ weight. 

Apothecaries’ Weight —20 grains make 1 scruple, 3 scruples make 1 dram, 8 
drams make 1 ounce, 12 ounces make 1 pound. 

Avoirdupois Weight —16 drams make 1 ounce, 16 ounces make 1 pound, 25 pounds 
make l quarter, 4 quarters make 1 hundredweight, 2000 pounds make 1 ton. 

Dry Measure— 2 pints make 1 quart, 8 quarts make 1 peck, 4 pecks make 1 bushel, 
36 bushels make 1 chaldron. 

Liquid or Wine Measure— 4 gills make 1 pint, 2 pints make 1 quart, 4 quarts 
make 1 gallon, 31 y 2 gallons make 1 barrel, 2 barrels make 1 hogshead. 

Time Measure —60 seconds make 1 minute, 60 minutes make 1 hour, 24 hours 
make 1 day, 7 days make 1 week, 4 weeks make 1 lunar mouth, 28, 29, 30 or 31 days 
make 1 calendar month (30 days make 1 month in computing interest,) 52 weeks and 
1 day, or 12 calendar months make 1 year; 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 49 seconds 
make 1 solar year. 

Circular Measure— 60 seconds make 1 minute, 60 minutes make 1 degree, 30 
degrees make 1 sign, SO degrees make 1 quadrant, 4 quadrants or 360 degrees make 1 
circle. 

Long Mea c ure—Distance— 3 barleycorns 1 inch, 12 inches 1 foot, 3 feet 1 yard, 5 y 2 
yards 1 rod, 40 rods 1 furlong, 8 furlongs 1 mile. 

Cloth Measure —2^ inches 1 nail, 4 nails 1 quarter, 4 quarters 1 yard. 

Miscellaneous— 3 inches 1 palm, 4 inches 1 hand, 6 inches 1 span, 18 inches 1 cubit, 

21.8 inches 1 Bible cubit, 2 y 2 feet, 1 military'pace. 

Square Measure— 144 square inches 1 square foot, 9 square feet 1 square yard, 
30^ square yards 1 square rod, 40 square rods, 1 rood, 4 roods 1 acre. 

Surveyor’s Measure— 7.92 inches 1 link, 25 links 1 rod, 4 rods 1 chain, 10 square 
chains or 160 square rods 1 acre, 640 acres 1 square mile. 

Cubic Measure— 1,728 cubic inches 1 cubic foot, 27 cubic feet 1 cubic yard, 128 cubic 
feet 1 cord (wood) 40cubic feet 1 ton (shipping), 2,150.42 cubic inches 1 standard bushel, 

268.8 cubic inches 1 standard gallon, 1 cubic foot four fifths of a bushel. 

Metric Weights —10 milligrams 1 centigram, 10 centigrams 1 decigram, 10 deci¬ 
grams 1 gram, 10 grams 1 dekagram, 10 dekagrams 1 hektogram, 10 hektograms 1 kilo¬ 
gram. 

Metric Measures —(One milliliter—Cubic centimeter.) —10 milliliters 1 centiliter, 
10 centiliters 1 deciliter, 10 deciliters 1 liter, 10 liters 1 dekaliter, 10 dekaliters 1 hektoli- 
ter, 10 hektoliters 1 kiloliter. 

Metric Lengths— 10 millimeters 1 centimeter, 10 centimeters 1 decimeter, 10 deci¬ 
meters 1 meter, 10 meters 1 dekameter, 10 dekameters 1 hektometer, 10 hektometers 1 
kilometer. 

RATIO OF APOTHECARIES’ AND IMPERIAL MEASURE. 


Apothecaries. Imperial. 

1 gallon equals.6 pints, 13 ounces, 2 drams, 23 minims. 

1 pint “ . 16 “ 5 “ 18 

1 fluid ounce equals. 1 “ 0 “ 20 “ 

1 fluid dram “ . 1 “ 2J4 “ 







COINS , WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 


183 


HANDY METRIC TABLES. 


The following tables give the equivalents of both the metric and 
common systems, and will be found convenient for reference: 


Approximate Accurate 

Equivalent. Equivalent. 

1 inch. [length]_ 2% cubic centimeters..2.539 

1 centimeter,. 0.4 inch. 0.393 

1 yard. 1 meter. 0.914 

1 meter (39.37 inches). 1 yard. 1.093 

1 foot.30 centimeters.30.479 

1 kilometer (1.000 meters). mile . 0.621 

1 mile. . 1 % kilometers. 1.600 

1 gramme.[weight] 15% grains.15.432 

1 grain.0.064 gramme.0.064 

1 kilogramme (1,000 grammes). 2.2 pounds avoirdupois. 2.204 

1 pound avoirdupois. % kilogramme. 0.453 

1 ounce avoirdupois (437% grains).28% grammes.28.349 

1 ounce troy, or apothecary (480 grains)_31 grammes. .31.103 

1 cubic centimeter.[bulk]_ 1.06 cubic inch. 0.060 

1 cubic inch.16% cubic centimeters. .16.386 

1 liter (1,000 cubic centimeters). 1 United States standard quart.0.946 

1 United States quart. 1 liter. 1.057 

1 fluid ounce.29% cubic centimeters.29.570 

1 hectare (10,000 square meters) [surface].. 2% acres . 2.471 

1 acre .0.4 hectare. 0.40 


It may not be generally known that we have in the nickel five-cent 
piece of our coinage a key to the tables of linear measures and weights. 
The diameter of this coin is two centimeters, and its weight is five gram¬ 
mes. Five of them placed in a row will, of course, give the length of 
the decimeter; and two of them will weigh a decagram. As the kiloliter 
is a cubic meter, the key to the measure of length is also the key to the 
measure of capacity. Any person, therefore, who is fortunate enough to 
own a five-cent nickle, may carry in his pocket the entire metric system 
of weights and measures. 


SUNDRY WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 


To find the number of bushels of apples, potatoes, etc., in a bin, 
multiply the length, breadth and thickness together; then multiply by 
eight and point off one figure in the answer for decimals. 

Three and one-half barrels of lime will do one hundred yards of 
plastering, two coats. Two barrels will do one coat. One barrel will 
lay one thousand bricks. To every barrel of lime estimate about five- 
eighths yards of good sand for plastering and brick work. 

Wheat from the time it is threshed will shrink two quarts to the 
bushel, or six per cent in six months. One hundred bushels of corn 
husked in November will shrink to eighty by March. Potatoes will rot 
and shrink thirty-three per cent of value from October to June. 

Shekel (Heb., from shakal, “to w r eigh”),was originally a certain stand¬ 
ard weight in use among the ancient Hebrews, by which the value of 
metals, metal vessels and other things was fixed. Gradually it became a 
normal piece of money, both in gold and silver, marked in some way or 
other as a coin, although not stamped. The gifts to the sanctuary, the 
fines, the taxes, the prices of merchandise are all reckoned in the Old 
Testament by the shekel, not counted, but weighed. 

Troy-weight seems to have taken its name from a weight used at the 
fair of Troyes , an important center of commerce during the middle ages. 
Like Cologne, Toulouse and other towns, Troyes may have had its own 










































184 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


special system of weights. A troy pound (of what value is unknown) is 
first mentioned in Britain in 1414, long before which period the stand¬ 
ard pound of twelve ounces, as well as another pound of twelve ounces 
(the Tower pound), was in use. The term “troy ” was first applied to 
the standard pound in 1495, but at the same time no change seems to 
have been made in its value, and it continued, as before, to be exclusively 
employed by the dealers in the precious metals, gems and drugs. . The 
troy pound contains twelve ounces, each ounce twenty pennyweights, 
and each pennyweight twenty-four grains; thus the pound contains 
5,760 grains, and is to the avoirdupois pound as 144 to 175, while the 
troy ounce is to the avoirdupois ounce as 192 to 175. (The apothecaries’ 
ounce and pound are now practically obsolete; drugs are bought and 
sold by avoirdupois, though compounded by apothecaries’ w T eight.) The 
old English pound, to which the term troy was afterwards applied, w T as 
doubtless the pound of silver; and the Tower pound of twelve ounces 
differed from it only by three-fourths of an ounce. 


THE AREA OF A CIRCLE. 

Of all plane figures the circle is the most capacious, or has the great¬ 
est area within the same limits. It is geometrically demonstrable that it 
has the same area as a right-angled triangle with a base equal to its cir¬ 
cumference, and a perpendicular equal to its radius, that is, half the pro¬ 
duct of the radius and circumference. It is obviously larger than any 
figure, of however many sides, inscribed within its perimeter, and smaller 
than any circumscribed polygon. As a result of laborious calculations 
on this basis (pushed iij, one instance to 6G0 places of decimals without 
reaching the end), it has been ascertained that the ratio of the diameter 
to the circumference of any circle (sufficiently exact for all practical pur¬ 
poses). is as 1 : 3.1416 (3.141592653-)-) or in whole numbers, approxi¬ 
mately, as 7 : 22,. or more nearly as 113 : 355. Hence, to find the circum¬ 
ference or diameter, the other quantity being known, multiply or divide 
by 3.1416; and to find the area, multiply half the diameter by half the 
circumference, or the square of the diameter by .7854 (3.1416-^-4). 

To FIND THE SURFACE OF A GLOBE, multiply the square of the diam¬ 
eter by 3.1416. 

To FIND THE SOLIDITY OF a globe, multiply the cube of the diam¬ 
eter by .5236. 


COAL WEIGHED BY MEASURE. 

There is a difference between a ton of hard coal and one of soft coal. 
For that matter, coal from different mines whether hard or soft, differs in 
weight, and consequently in cubic measure, according to quality. Then 
there is a difference according to size. To illustrate: careful measure¬ 
ments have been made of Wilkesbarre anthracite, a fine quality of hard 
coal, with the following results: 

Size 
of coal. 

Lump. 33.2 

Broken. 33.9 

Egg. 34 

Stone.. 34 

Chestnut. 35.7 

Pea. 36.7 

For soft coal the following measures may be taken as nearly correct; 
it is simply impossible to determine any exact rule, even for bituminous 


Cubic feet 

Cubic feet in 

in ton of 

ton of 

2,240 lbs. 

2,000 lbs. 


22.8 


30.3 


30.8 


31.1 


31.9 


32.8 











COINS, WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 


185- 

coal of the same district: Briar Hill coal, 44.8 cubic feet per ton of 2,240 
pounds; Pittsburgh, 47.8; Wilmington, Ill., 47; Indiana block coal, 42 to 
43 cubic feet. 


MEASURE OF EARTH, ETC. 


One ton of soil = 18 feet cube. 
45 cubic feet of soil = 2% tons. 


A cubic foot contains 6 gallons and 1 quart of water, weighing 62% lbs. 
15% cubic feet of chalk weighs. 

18 “ “ clay “ . 

21 “ “ earth “ .. 

19 “ “ gravel “ . 

21 “ •“ sand “ . 


1 ton 
1 “ 

1 “ 
1 “ 
1 “ 


TRADE SIZES OF BOOKS. 


The name indicates the number of pages in the sheet, thus: in folio 
book, 4 pages or 2 leaves = 1 sheet; a quarto, or 4to., has 8 pages or 4 
leaves to a sheet; an octavo, or 8vo., 16 pages or 8 leaves to a sheet. In 
a 12mo., 24 pages or 12 leaves = 1 sheet, and the 18mo., 36 pages, or 18 
leaves = 1 sheet, and so on. The following are the approximate sizes of 


books: 

Royal Folio. 

Demy . 

Super Imp. Quarto (4to) 

Royal 4to. 

Demy 4to. 

Crown 4to. 

Royal Octavo. 

Medium 8vo. 

Demy 8vo . 

Crown 8vo. 

Foolscap 8vo. 

12mo. 

16mo. 

Square 16mo. 

Royal 24 mo. 

Demy 24mo. 

Royal 32mo. 

Post 32mo. 

Demy 48mo. 


19 inches 

X 12 

18 

i l 

X 

11 


( 4 

X 

13 

12% 

4 l 

X 

10 

1154 

i 4 

X 

8% 

ll 

4 4 

X 

8 

10% 

4 4 

X 

6% 

9% 

*4 

X 

6 

0 

4 4 

X 

5% 

7% 

4 4 

X 

4% 

7 

4 4 

X 

4 

7 

4 4 

X 

4 

6% 

4 4 

X 

4 

4% 

4 4 

X 

3% 

5% 

4 4 

X 

3 % 

5 

<i 

X 

2% 

5 

4 4 

X 

3 

4 

4 4 

X 

2% 

3 % 

4 4 

X 

2% 


VALUE OF DIAMONDS, 

Diamonds averaging one-half carat each, $60 per carat. 

Diamonds averaging three-quarters carat each, $80 per carat. 

Diamonds averaging one carat each, $100 per carat. 

Diamonds averaging one and one-quarter carats each, $110 per carat. 

Diamonds averaging one and one-half carats each, $120 per carat. 

Diamonds averaging one and three-quarters carats each, $145 per carat. 

Diamonds averaging two carats each. $175 per carat. 

In other words, the value of the gem increases in the geometrical ratio of its weight. 
Four diamonds weighing together two carats are worth $120; but one diamond weighing 
just as much is worth $350. Stones weighing over two carats are about the same price 
per carat as two-carat stones; they should be dearer, but they are not, simply because 
the demand for them is limited. If the demand for diamonds were as imperative as the 
demand tor flour or beef, the geometrical ratio would again come into play, and five- 
carat stones would be valued in the thousands. 


VALUABLE CALCULATIONS. 

To Measure Buek Wood.—To measure a pile of wood, multiply 
the length by the width, and that product by the height, which will give 
the number of cubic feet. Divide that product by 128, and the quotient 
will be the number of cords. A standard cord of wood, it must be re- 


































186 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


membered, is four feet thick; that is, the wood must be four feet long. 
Farmers usually go by surface measure, calling a pile of stove wood 
eight feet long and four feet high a cord. Under such circumstances 
thirty-two feet would be the divisor. 

Grain Measure —To find the capacity of a bin or wagon-bed, mul¬ 
tiply the cubic feet by .8 (tenths). For great accuracy add one-third of 
a bushel for every 100 cubic feet. To find the cubic feet, multiply the 
length, width and depth together. 

Uand Measure —To find the number of acres in a body of land, 
multiply the length by the width (in rods), and divide the product by 
160. When the opposite sides are unequal, add them, and take half the 
sum for the mean length or width. 

Cistern Measure —To find the capacity of a round cistern or tank, 
multiply the square of the average diameter by the depth, and take 
three-sixteenths of the product. For great accuracy, multiply by .1865. 
For square cisterns or tanks, multiply the cubic feet by .2^. The re¬ 
sult is the contents in barrels. 

To Measure Casks or Barrels— Find mean diameter by adding 
to head diameter two-thirds (if staves are but slightly curved, three- 
fifths) of difference between head and bung diameters, and dividing by 
two. Multiply square of mean diameter in inches by .7854, and the prod¬ 
uct by the height of the cask in inches. The result will be the number 
of cubic inches. Divide by 231 for standard or wine gallons and by 282 
for beer gallons. 

To Ascertain the Weight of Cattle —Measure the girt close 
behind the shoulder, and the length from the forepart of the shoulder- 
blade along the back to the bone at the tail, w T hich is in a vertical line 
with the buttock, both in feet. Multiply the square of the girt, ex¬ 
pressed in feet by ten times the length, and divide the product by three; 
the quotient is the weight, nearly, of the fore quarters, in pounds avoir¬ 
dupois. It is to be observed, however, that in very fat cattle, the fore 
quarters will be about one-twentieth more, while in those in a very lean 
state they will be one-twentieth less than the weight obtained by the 
rule. 

Measures, of Capacity —The following table^ showing contents of 
boxes, will often be found convenient, taking inside dimensions: 

24 in. x 24 in. x 14.7 will contain a barrel of 31H gallons. 

15 in. x 14 in. x 11 in. will contain 10 gallons. 

8J4 in x 7 in. x 4 in. will contain a gallon. 

4 in. x 4 in x 3.6 in. will contain a quart. 

24 in. x 28 in. x 16 in. will contain 5 bushels. 

16 in. x 12 in. x 11.2 in. will contain a bushel. 

12 in. x 11.2 in. x 8 in. will contain a half bushel. 

7 in. x 6.4 in. x 12 in. will contain a peck. 

8.4 in. x 8 in. x 4 in. will contain a half peck, or 4 dry quarts! 

6 in. x 5§ in., and 4 in. deep, will contain a half gallon. 

4 in. x 4 in., and in. deep, will contain a pint. 

How TO Measure a Tree. —Very many persons, when looking for 
a stick of timber, are at a loss to estimate either the height of the tree 
or the length of timber it will cut. The following rule will enable any 
one to approximate nearly to the length from the ground to any position 
desired on the tree: Take a stake, say six feet in length, and place it 
against the tree you wish to measure. Then step back some rods, twenty 
or more if you can, from which to do the measuring. At this point a 
light pole and a measuring rule are required. The pole is raised between 
the eyes and the tree, and the rule is brought into position against the 


COINS ; WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 


187 


pole. Then by sighting and observing what length of the rule is required 
to cover the stake of the tree, and what the entire tree, dividing the lat¬ 
ter length by the former and multiplying by the number of feet the stake 
is long, you reach the approximate height of the tree. For example, if 
the stake at the tree be six feet above ground and one inch on your 
rule corresponds exactly with this, and if then the entire height of the 
tree corresponds exactly with say nine inches on the rule, this would 
-show the tree to possess a full height of fifty-four feet. In practice it 
will thus be found an easy matter to learn the approximate height of 
any tree, building, or other such object. 

Rules for Measuring Corn in Crib, Vegetables, etc., and Hay 
in Mow—This rule will apply to a crib of any size or kind. Two cubic 
feet of good, sound, dry corn in the ear will make a bushel of shelled 
corn; to get, then, the quantity of shelled corn in a crib of corn in the 
ear, measure the length, breadth and height of the crib, inside the rail; 
multiply the length by the breadth and the product by the height, then 
divide the product by two, and you have the number of bushels of shelled 
corn in the crib. 

To find the number of bushels of apples, potatoes, etc., in a bin, 
multiply the length, breadth and thickness together, and this product by 
eight, and point off one figure in the product for decimals. 

To find the amount of hay in a mow, allow 512 cubic feet for a ton, 
and it will come out very generally correct. 


THE STORY OF OUR COINAGE. 

Among the North American Indians strings of beads made from 
shells were used as currency. They were called wampum. In Colonial 
times the general court of Massachusetts soon recognized this money 
and fixed an arbitrary rate of exchange. Six white beads made from the 
sea-conch, or three purple beads made from the muscle-shell, were taken 
as equivalent to an English penny. Rater four white and two purple 
ones were declared to have the same value. Musket balls were made 
legal tender for small amounts and furs and peltry for large sums. The 
coins brought from England and Holland tended to flow back to 
Europe, and the remaining ones were insufficient for the needs of the 
colonists. 

In 1652, therefore, the general court of Massachusetts established a 
mint in Boston, and John Hull, mint-master, struck silver shillings, six¬ 
pences and threepences. All of these coins bore the device of the pine- 
tree. They were of the same fineness as the English coins of like 
denomination, but of less weight. This mint continued in operation 
for thirty-six years. After a while the “royal oak” was substituted for 
the pine-tree in order to conciliate King Charles II., who disliked this 
minting by a colony. All the above named coins bore the date of 1652; 
but tw T o-penny pieces were added with the date of 1662. No other col¬ 
ony had a mint until 1659, when Rord Baltimore caused shillings, six¬ 
pences and groats to be coined for use in Maryland. James II. issued 
ten coins for circulation in America, though few of these have found 
their way hither. In 1722, 1723 and 1733 copper coins were minted in 
England with the legend ‘ ‘ Rosa Americana. ’' There were also copper 
half-pence issued in 1773 for circulation in Virginia, and in 1774 silver 
shillings were added. Florida and Rouisiana had colonial coins of their 
own before they became parts of the United States. 



188 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


After the Revolutionary war the Continental Congress passed an act 
in 1786 which established a mint and regulated the value and alloy of 
the national coin. The government prescribed the device for copper 
coin the next year. Under this authority the so-called “Franklin 
Penny,” with the legend “Mind Your Business,” was made by contract. 
By the Federal Constitution, ratified in 1789, the right of coining money 
was transferred from the States to the United States. Under this consti¬ 
tution the United States mint was established at Philadelphia in 1792, 
and the regular coinage began in the following year. Four have since 
been added: New Orleans (1835), San Francisco (1854), Carson City and 
Denver—all under the charge of the Bureau of the Mint of the United 
States Treasury Department. 

By the act of Congress establishing the United States Mint the fol¬ 
lowing coins were authorized, Gold , eagle, half-eagle, quarter-eagle; 
silver , dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar, dime, half-dime; copper , cent, 
half-cent. Changes have been made at various times, not only in weight 
and fineness, but also in the metals used for the minor coins. At present 
the following coins are struck: Gold , double-eagle, eagle, half-eagle, 
three-dollar, quarter-eagle, dollar; silver , dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dol¬ 
lar, dime; minor coins , of nickel and bronze, five-cent, three-cent and 
cent. 

By the act of February 12, 1873, the metric system was to a certain 
extent used in determining the weight of the silver coins. Thus, the 
half-dollar was to weigh 11)4 grams, the quarter-dollar 6)4 grams, the 
dime 1)4 grams. 

Till 1837 the obverse of our coins had generally a female head, either 
with a liberty cap, or w T ith a fillet bearing the word “Liberty.” After¬ 
wards it was replaced by a full-length seated figure with a liberty-cap 
on a pole, and a shield with a band inscribed “Liberty.” The reverse of 
the principal coins has the eagle, often with a shield, arrows and olive 
branch. But in the minor coins the denomination of the piece is encir¬ 
cled by a wreath. 

Up to 1849 eagles or ten-dollar gold pieces were the highest denomi¬ 
nation authorized. But the discovery of gold in large quantity in Cali¬ 
fornia caused the demand for a larger coin, and the double-eagle was 
authorized by act of March 3, 1849, and issued in 1850. By the same act 
gold dollars were also authorized. Beside the govermental issues there 
were octagonal and ring dollars and even gold half-dollars and quarters 
issued in California. The Mormans in Utah also had gold coins of their 
own. These had peculiar devices, and their favorite inscription, “Holi¬ 
ness to the Lord.” 


NUMISMATICS AS A STUDY. 

Besides its bearing upon the history, the religion, the manners, and 
the arts of the nations which have used money, the science of numismat¬ 
ics has a special modern use in relation to art. Displaying the various 
styles of art prevalent in different ages, coins supply us with abundant 
means for promoting the advancement of art among ourselves. If the 
study of many schools be at all times of advantage, it is especially so 
when there is little originality in the world. Its least value is to point 
out the want of artistic merit and historical commemoration in modern 
coins, and to suggest that modern types should be executed after some 
study of the rules which controlled the great works of former times. 



WAR AND ITS APPLIANCES. 


Is it. O man. with such discordant noises. 

With such accursed instruments as these, 

Thou drownest nature’s sweet and kindly voices, 

Andjarrest the celestial harmonies ? 

—Longfellow. 

ARMIES, ARMS AND ARMOR. 

Julius Caesar invaded Britain, 55 b. c. 

French Revolution, 1789; Reign of Terror, 1793. 

Bunker Hill and Lexington were fought in 1775. 

A rifle ball moves at one thousand miles per hour. 

War was declared with Great Britain June 19, 1812. 

War has cost France six million lives in this century. 

The mercantile and armed navies of the world have 1,693,000 seamen. 

Flint-lock muskets came into use about 1692; percussion caps in 
1820. 

The first fire-arms were rude hand cannon, made at Perugia, Italy, 
in 1346. 

Franc-tireurs was the name of the Frehch sharp-shooters in the war 
of 1870-71. 

“Bravest of the Brave,” was the title given to Marshal Ney at Fried- 
land, 1807. 

A battalion is the unit of command in infantry; a regiment is the 
administration unit. 

Juvenal says that even those who do not wish to kill a man are will¬ 
ing to have that power. 

Cr£cy, Poictiers, and Agincourt were won with the long-bow, then 
England’s favorite war weapon. 

Ishmael is mentioned as an archer, Gen. xxi, 20, and probably 
among the first known warriors. 

The proportion of men capable of bearing arms is estimated at 
twenty-five per cent of the population. 

The officers of the Swedish navy are considered as military officers, 
and in full dress are obliged to wear spurs. 

The first steam vessel to engage in a naval battle was operated by the 
Spanish in the Don Carlos civil war of 1836. 

It was Washington who said that to be prepared for war is one of 
the most effectual means of preserving peace. 

189 



190 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


Hetman was a title formerly borne by a general of Cossack troops; it 
was an elective rank, but gave absolute authority. 

The military chest is a technical name for the money and negotiable 
securities carried with an army, and intended to defray the current ex¬ 
penses. 

The Seven Weeks’ War is the term sometimes applied to the Austro- 
Prussian war of 1866, which lasted from the middle of June till the end 
of July. 

The form of breech-loading needle gun, adopted by the French army 
in 1866, was the invention of one Alphonse Chassepot, and was named in 
his honor. 

When Louis XI. asked Marshal de Trivulce what was needed to 
make war, the answer came: “Three things, Sire; money, more money, 
always money.” 

The victors’ share in property captured from the vanquished is called 
booty. It is generally a military term, the word prize being more com¬ 
monly used in the navy. 

In 1040 the Church forbid warriors from all combat between Wednes¬ 
day of Passion Week and the following Monday—this interval hence 
being called the “Truce of God.” 

When a power maintains an armed force, and prepares itself for war 
on the outbreak of hostilities between other powers, it is said to assume 
an attitude of “armed neutrality.” 

According to Napoleon, the proportions of an army should be seventy 
per cent infantry, seventeen per cent cavalry, and thirteen per cent be¬ 
tween artillery, engineers and train. 

Spahi is the Turkish form of the Persian word Sipahi (from w r hich 
we get Sepoy), and was the term for the irregular cavalry of the Turkish 
armies before the reorganization of 1836. 

A sabretache is a leather case for carrying letters, etc. It is usually 
attached to the sword-belt of hussars and of most mounted officers. In 
the latter case it is often highly ornamented. 

In the military language of the middle ages the term cap-a-pid was 
applied to a knight or soldier armed at all points, or from head to foot, 
with armor for defence and weapons for attack. 

The word cartel means variously a challenge and a written agreement 
between belligerents for an exchange of prisoners. Cartel ship is a ves¬ 
sel commissioned to convey exchanged prisoners. 

Belgium is called the “cock pit” of Europe because it has been the 
site of more European battles than any other country, e. g.: Oudenarde, 
Ramillies, Fontenoy, Fleurus, Jemappes, Ligny, Quatre Bras, Waterloo, 
etc. 

A countersign is a watchword used in military affairs to prevent un¬ 
authorized persons passing a line of sentries whose orders are to stop any 
one unable to give it. It is changed by the commanding officer every 
day. 

The greatest number of war prisoners at one time at Andersonville 
was 33,006. The number of escapes was 328. The total number of deaths 
was 12,462, about one-third of which took place in the stockade and two- 
thirds in .the hospital. 


WAR AND ITS APPLIANCES. 


191 


The “Victoria Cross,’’ which we often read of having been conferred 
upon some British soldier for conspicuous bravery, is of the Maltese 
form, made from Russian cannon captured at Sebastopol. 

A court-martial is a court for the trial of all persons subject to mili¬ 
tary law or to the regulations of the navy. It is composed, according to 
circumstances, of a certain number of officers of the service involved. 

Sealed orders in the navy are orders which are delivered to the com¬ 
manding officer of a ship or squadron sealed up, and only to be opened 
after the ship or squadron has put to sea and proceeded to a certain point 
previously designated. 

Suits of a uniform color and pattern for soldiers in the British army 
date from 1674, when the foot guards were clad in gray. The intro¬ 
duction of a regular uniform for sailors dates from 1748, when the “blue 
iacket” become customary. 

The cockpit in the ship of war is the compartment in the lower part 
of the ship where the wounded are attended to during action. The sur¬ 
gery and the dispensary which contains the medicine chests for the ship’s 
company adjoin the cockpit. 

What we call the Mexican war (June 4, 1845 to February 2, 1848), 
was between the United States and Mexico. The Americans captured 
the city of Mexico September 14, 1847. The treaty of peace was signed 
Feburary 2, and ratified May 19, 1848. 

At the close of the Franco-German war the Germans took from the 
French 7,234 pieces of cannon, including 3,485 field pieces and 3,306 
fortress guns. At the battle of Waterloo the British artillery fired 9,467 
rounds, or one for every Frenchman killed. 

The temporary suspension of hostilities between two armies or two 
nations at war, by mutual agreement, constitutes an armistice. It takes 
place sometimes when both are exhausted, and at other times when an 
endeavor to form a treaty of peace is being made. 

While the nominal pay of a British private is one shilling a day, or 
twenty-four cents, he really does not receive much more than half that 
in actual cash. Deductions are charged to his account for extra supplies 
of rations and for washing, which bring the net amount down to about $1 
a week. 

There is a gun in the British navy, a twenty-two-ton Armstrong, 
which hurls a solid shot a distance of twelve miles, the highest point in 
the arc described by the shot being seventeen thousand feet above the 
earth’s surface. The discharge of the gun cannot be heard at the place 
where the ball strikes. 

Armed bands of peasants are called guerrillas in Spain. The insur¬ 
rections of Jack Cade, Wat Tyler, and Robert Kett would be so called in 
Spain. From 1808 to 1814 guerrillas were regularly organized against the 
French, and the names of Empecinado, the Pastor Merino, and Mina, as 
leaders, are well known. 

Antietam is a narrow but deep river in Maryland, United States, fall¬ 
ing into the Potomac, seven miles above Harper’s Ferry. On its banks, 
near Sharpsburg, was fought a bloody battle between the Union troops 
under McClellan, and the Confederate army under Lee, in which the 
former remained master of the field, though at a loss of nearly thirteen 
thousand men. 


192 


MANUAL OF USEFUL LNFORMA TION. 


The Gaelic word claymore, meaning “the great sword, ” is properly 
used of the old Celtic one-handed,two-edged long sword, often engraved 
on ancient tombstones, with the guards pointing downwards. The name 
is now commonly given, but inaccurately, to the basket-hilted sword of 
the officers of Highland regiments. 

The Seven Days’ Battles is the designation of a series of fierce en¬ 
gagements (June 25 to July 1, 1862), which took place in the neighbor¬ 
hood of Richmond, Va., between the Federals, under McClellan, and 
the Confederates, commanded by Lee, resulting in the retreat of the 
former to Harrison’s Landing on the James River. 

By the naval term “boarding” is understood an attack upon one 
vessel by another in which a company of armed men from the one forces 
its way on board the .other. In the days of ironclads, boarding of war 
vessels is less frequent than of old. A “boarding net” is a framework 
of stout rope-netting placed so as to obstruct boarders. 

Cartouch was formerly a name for a portable wooden case for holding 
cannon balls or musket bullets. A gun cartouch now means merely a 
waterproof canvas case for holding the cartridges of a field battery, one 
to each ammunition box. The cartridge box carried by the soldiers used 
to be called a cartouch in England, and still is in France. 

The simultaneous discharge of all the guns on one side of a ship of 
war is termed a broadside. The fighting power of a ship used to be 
estimated by the weight of all the shot and shell that could be fired off 
at once from one side or half of the ship. Thus, the broadside of the 
old-fashioned “Duke of Wellington” 131-gun war steamer, amounted to 
2,400 pounds. 

The military term Uhlans was a name originally given to light cav¬ 
alry armed and clothed in semi-oriental fashion. A body of Uhlans was 
formed for the French army by Marshal Saxe. But the word is now 
familiar as a term for the Prussian light cavalry, armed with the lance, 
who gained glory by their dash, bravery and swiftness of movement dur¬ 
ing the Franco-German war. 

The casus belli , occasion for war, is the reason alleged by one power 
for going to war with another. It is quite impossible to reduce these 
causes or reasons to any definite code; enough that in 1870 King Wil¬ 
helm’s cold-shoulder to M. Benedetti was a casus belli between France 
and Germany, and that in 1847 the burning of a Jew’s bedstead at Athens 
was all but one between France and Britain. 

In the French and some other continental armies, the vivandiere is 
a female attendant in a regiment, who sells spirits and other comforts, 
ministers to the sick, marches with the corps, and contrives to be a uni¬ 
versal favorite. From the Algerian campaigns onward the vivandiere 
wore a modified (short-petticoated) form of the regimental uniform; but 
this arrangement has been forbidden by government. 

The calumet or “peace-pipe” of the North American Indians, is a 
tobacco pipe having a stem of reed or painted wood about two feet and a 
half long, decorated with feathers, with a large bowl, usually of red 
soapstone. After a treaty has been signed, the Indians fill the calumet 
with the best tobacco, and present it to the representatives of the party 
with whom they have been entering into alliance, themselves smoking 
out of it afterwards. The presentation of it to strangers is a mark of 
hospitality and to refuse it would be considered an act of hostility. 


WAR AND ITS APPLIANCES. 


193 


The European soldiery called Landwehr (“Land-defence”) is a mili¬ 
tary force in the German and Anstrian empires, forming an army reserve, 
but not always retained under arms. Its members, although care is 
taken that they are sufficiently exercised, spend most of their time in 
civil pursuits during peace, and are called out for military service only 
in times of war or of commotion. 

The battle of Lissa was the last great sea fight in history and the 
only one wherein armor-clad vessels have opposed other similar vessels 
in any number. It was fought on July 20, 1806, between the Austrians, 
under Admiral TegethofF, and the Italians, under Admiral Persano. Each 
side had twenty-three vessels, but eleven of the Italian fleet were armor- 
clad, while the Austrians mustered only seven armor-clads. 

Infernal machines are contrivances made to resemble ordinary harm¬ 
less objects, but charged with some dangerous explosive. An innocent¬ 
looking box or similar receptacle is partly filled with dynamite or other 
explosive, the rest of the space being occupied by some mechanical ar¬ 
rangement, mostly clockwork, which moves inaudibly, and is generally 
so contrived that, when it has run down at the end of a predetermined 
number of hours or days, it shall cause the explosive substance to explode. 

The Wars of the Roses is the name given to the wars between the 
house of York and that of Lancaster. . It began with the battle of St. 
Albans, May 23, 1455, and ended with the battle of Bosworth Field, 
August 22, 1483. A white rose formed the badge of the House of York, 
and a red rose was the cognizance of the House of Lancaster. The 
political effects of the war were—(1) the ruin of the ancient baronage, 
and (2) the growth of monarchical power, being relieved of the baro¬ 
nial check. 

The boomerang is a wooden missile used by the aborigines of Aus¬ 
tralia in hunting and in war. It is so constructed that the missile slowly 
ascends into the air, whirling round and round, and describing a curved 
line of progress till it reaches a considerable height, when it begins to 
retrograde, and finally, if thrown with sufficient force, falls eight or ten 
yards behind the thrower, or it may fall near him. Colloquially a boom¬ 
erang is a story told for a political purpose, which, being proved false, 
reacts upon its originator. 

The mace, a thick, heavy club or staff, about five feet long, sur¬ 
mounted by a metal head, frequently spiked, was used by knights and 
warlike churchmen in the middle ages, The ornamental maces of par¬ 
liament, the universities, and city corporations, borne as an ensign of 
authority, may be traced to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when 
princes armed their guards with spikeless maces as the handiest against 
the sudden attacks of the assassins. The need passed away, but the maces 
remained as symbols of rank. 

An indefinite but interesting locality is the Wilderness, a region in 
Virginia, two miles south of the Rapidan, covered with dense thicket, 
and memorable for the dreadful two days’ battle fought in its depths by 
Grant and Lee, May 5-6, 1864. The Union loss was eighteen thousand, 
the Confederate eleven thousand, and the desperate fighting utterly 
without advantage to either side. The name Wilderness Campaign has 
been given to all the movements of Grant’s overland march to Rich¬ 
mond, and including the battles of Spottsylvania Courthouse and Cold 
Harbor. 


U. I—13 


194 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The Shenandoah is a river tributary of the Potomac, which flows 
through the valley of Virginia. It was the scene of numerous military 
operations during the civil war, notably in 1864, when its neighborhood 
was devastated by General Sheridan. One of the Confederate cruisers, 
commanded by Captain Waddell, was named the Shenandoah and com¬ 
mitted great devastation among the shipping of the Federal Government. 
The vessel was surrendered to the British Government (Nov. 1865) and 
given up to the United States consul. 

Contraband of war is a name applied to certain commodities during 
hostilities between states which acknowledge what are called the laws of 
nations. One such law is, that neutral nations must not carry on, for the 
advantage of either of the belligerent powers, any branches of commerce 
from which they are excluded in time of peace. Another is, that the name 
of contraband of war shall be given to such articles as pertain to military 
or naval warfare—guns, ammunition, and stores of all kinds. Negroes 
were held to be contraband of war during the civil war. 

A singular weapon, used by the natives and half-breeds of southern 
South America, is the bo/as , consisting of two heavy balls, generally of 
stone covered with leather, connected by a plaited thong six to eight feet 
long. One bola is held in the right hand, while the other is swung rap¬ 
idly round the head at the full extent of the thong, and both are dis¬ 
charged at the animal to be captured so as to wind round its feet and 
bring it to the ground. In another form of bolas there are three balls, 
not of the same size, connected at the common center by three short 
thongs or ropes. 

The sutlers and dealers in small wares who follow an army are often 
called camp followers. In India, owing to the peculiar habits and 
customs of the natives, and the large number of servants retained by 
European troops, the camp followers sometimes number four times the 
actual force: comprising servants, grooms, grass cutters, mule and camel 
drivers, water-carriers, sutlers, snake charmers, dancers, conjurers, and 
women. Even in European armies they are necessary; they are at all 
times under the control of the commanding officer, but only subject to 
military law when in the field. 

The military operation of capturing an enemy’s town or fortress, 
often without a bombardment or regular siege, is called a blockade. 
The attacking party throws up works on the neighboring heights and 
roads, so as to guard every exit from the town. The rest of the besieging 
force remains under cover in villages, or in a temporary camp, ready to 
repel any sortie attempted by the besieged. The whole purpose in view 
is to prevent the besieged from receiving supplies of any kind, in order 
that, when the food or the ammunition is exhausted, they may be com¬ 
pelled to surrender. It was introduced by the Dutch about 1584. 

Parole is the declaration made on honor by an officer in a case in 
which there is no more than his sense of honor to restrain him from 
breaking his word. Thus, a prisoner of war may be released from actual 
prison on his parole that he will not go beyond certain designated limits; 
or he may even be allowed to return to his own country on his parole 
not to fight again, during the existing war, against his captors. To 
break parole is accounted infamous in all civilized nations, and an officer 
who has so far forgotten his position as a gentleman ceases to have any 
claim to the treatment of an honorable man, nor can he expect quarter 
should he again fall into the hands of the enemy he has deceived? 


WAR AND ITS APPLIANCES. 


195 


The zouaves were originally a warlike tribe of Kabyles in the mili¬ 
tary employment of the Dey of Algiers. After the French occupation of 
Algiers (1830) they were incorporated with the French army, but the 
native element was gradually eliminated from the corps, and after 1840 
the zouaves were simply French soldiers, bearing the native name and 
wearing the native dress. The zouaves distinguished themselves in 
Algiers, in the Crimean war, and in the Italian campaign of 1850, and 
were long looked upon as the elite of the French infantry. 

The famous bashi-bazouks are irregular troopers in the pay of the 
Sultan. Very few of them are Europeans; they are mostly Asiatics from 
some or other of the provinces in Asiatic Turkey. They are wild, tur¬ 
bulent men, brave enough if serving under some leader who under¬ 
stands them; they receive no regular pay. They may be either infantry 
or cavalry, and their usual weapons are a long lance, a sabre, several 
pistols and one or more daggers. The famous “ Bulgarian atrocities” of 
1876, which roused the indignation of Europe and ultimately cost the 
corrupt Turks their supremacy, were mainly due to the lawless brutality 
of these ruffians. 

The use of the bow and arrow was probably known to man at a very 
early period of his history, and triangular flint arrow-heads, chipped 
into the requisite shape, are found in all parts of the world, showing 
that they must have been known and largely used at a period anterior 
to the discovery of the working of metals. The bow is mentioned in 
Scripture as having been used in patriarchal times, and we know that all 
the leading nations of antiquity were acquainted with it. No one coun¬ 
try or continent can claim the bow exclusively as its own. The Hotten¬ 
tots, Bushmen, South Sea Islanders and a few tribes in North America 
are experts in the use of the bow. 

Gendarmes (Fr., “ men-at-arms”) were originally mounted lancers, 
armed at all points and attended by five inferior soldiers, who were fur¬ 
nished by the holders of fiefs. These were replaced by Charles VII.’s 
compagnies d’ordonnance, which were dissolved in 1787, one company 
of gendarmerie being retained as the bodyguard of Eouis XVI. Since 
the Revolution, except for a short interval at the Restoration, the gen¬ 
darmes have constituted a military police, which superseded the old 
markchaussee, and comprise, both cavalry and infantry. Divided into 
legions and companies, and these latter into brigades, the organization 
of the force corresponds to the territorial divisions of the army. The 
men receive much higher pay than the rest of the army, of which, how¬ 
ever, the corps is a part, its members being drafted from the line for this 
service. Germany also since 1808 has had its gendarmen. 

In 1478 Mohammed II., in forming the siege of Scutari, in Albania, 
employed fourteen heavy bombards, the lightest of which threw a stone 
Shot of 370 pounds weight, two sent shots of 500 pounds, two of 750 
pounds, two of 850 pounds, one of 1,200 pounds, five of 1,500 pounds 
and one of the enormous weight of 1,640 pounds, enormous even in 
these days, for the only guns whose shot exceed the heaviest of these are 
our 80-ton guns, throwing a 1,700-pound projectile, our 100-ton, throw¬ 
ing one of 2,000 pounds, and the 110-ton, throwing an 1,800-pound shot 
with a high velocity. The stone shot of Mahommed’s guns varied be¬ 
tween twenty and thirty-two inches in diameter, about the same height 
as a dining table; 2,534 of them were fired on this occasion, weighing, 
according to a calculation of General Eefroy’s, about 1,000 tons, and 


196 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


were cut out of the solid rock on the spot. Assuming twenty-four inches 
as the average diameter of the shot fired at this siege, the total area of 
the surface dressed was nearly 32,000 square feet. At this siege the 
w T eight of the powder fired is estimated to have been 250 tons. At the 
siege of Rhodes, in 1480, Mohammed caused sixteen basilisks, or double 
cannon, to be cast on the spot, throwing balls two to three feet in 
diameter. 

Italy expends every year $96,000,000 for her soldiers, and less than 
$4,000,000 for schools. In Spain it costs $100,000,000 to maintain the 
army, and only $1,500,000 to educate the children, but then it is the ex¬ 
ception to find a Spanish farmer who is able to read or write. Germany 
boasts of being in the foremost rank among the nations in the kultur- 
kampf of the world,yet she expends $185,000,000 on her army,while $10,- 
000,000 is deemed sufficient for the education of her children. France 
maintains an army at an expense of $151,000,000, and supplies her schools 
with $21,000,000. The United States expends $115,000,000 for public 
schools, while the army and navy cost only $54,000,000. 

We apply the term blockhouse to a stockade roofed in and loopholed. 
The timber that forms the walls must be bullet proof and covered out¬ 
side with earth up to the loop-holes to render them fire-proof. Where 
the country is well-timbered and no artillery attack is to be feared the 
blockhouse is a useful defense. The size and shape vary. It may be 
cruciform in plan, the second story may project over the first, or may be 
placed diagonally across the lower one. A ditch or moat is excavated 
around the blockhouse, to furnish the earth that covers the wood work 
and to provide a further defense. In the ditch stakes are planted as a hin¬ 
drance to an attack by the enemy. 

The charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, often called the 
“Death Ride,” took place October 25, 1854. In this action 600 English 
horsemen, under the command of the Earl of Cardigan, charged a Rus¬ 
sian force of five thousand cavalry and six battalions of infantry. They 
galloped through the battery of thirty guns, cutting down the artillery¬ 
men, and through the cavalry, but then discovered the battalions, and 
cut their way back again. Of the 670 who advanced to this daring charge, 
not two hundred returned. This reckless exploit was the result of some 
misunderstanding in an order from the compiander-in-chief. Tennyson 
has a poem on the subject, called “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” 
Sir Edw. Creasy in “The Fifteen Decisive Battles” says, that for chival¬ 
rous devotion and daring “the Death Ride” of the Light Brigade will 
not easily be paralleled. 

The Janissaries or Janezaries were a body of Turkish soldiers first 
organized about 1330 A. d. by Sultan Orean from the young Christian 
prisoners. The name is from the Turkish yeni askari, new soldiers. 
The janissaries formed the earlier standing army of Europe. They were 
at first highly privileged and soon attained great power both in war and 
politics. In 1512 they raised Selim to the throne and caused the death 
of the famous Bajazet; in 1808 they objected to the organization of any 
other army than their own body and massacred all the new troops they 
could. In 1826 Mahomet II. suppressed them; his new troops remem¬ 
bering the massacre eighteen years before slaughtered 20,000 of the 
obnoxious troops. This put an end to the body. The massacre lasted 
three days, June 14, 15 and 16. When it was ended Mahomet organized 
his new armies in comparative peace. 


WAR AND ITS APPLIANCES. 


197 


The wager of battle is a mode of trial which prevailed in mediaeval 
Europe, especially among the Teutonic nations, on writs of right and 
appeals of treason and felony. After the Conquest, in England, trial by 
combat superseded all other legal ordeals, which were abolished by 
Henry III. The wager of battle was claimed and allowed in the Court 
of King’s Bench so late as 1818, but the appellant (the brother of the de¬ 
ceased) refused the challenge, and the appellee (a man named Abraham 
Thornton, accused of violating and murdering a maid named Mary Ash¬ 
ford) was discharged. In the following year (1819) the law of wager of 
battle was struck off the statute-book. The legal duel was the parent of 
the illegal private duel, which still exists, though in a languishing con¬ 
dition, in France and Germany. 


RATIO OF LOSS IN GREAT BATTLES. 

The number placed hors-de-combat in battle is not relatively so large 
as formerly, as the table below will show: 

Men Engaged. Hors-de-combat. Ratio. 


Thrasymene. 


. 65,000 

17,000 

27 per cent 

Cannse. 

. 

. 146,000 

52,000 

34 

Bannockburn. 


,. 135,000 

38,000 

28 

Agincourt. 


. 62,000 

11,400 

18 

Crecy. 


. 117,000 

31,200 

27 

Marengo. .... 


. 58,000 

13,000 

22 

Austerlitz. 


. 170,000 

23,000 

13 

Borodino. 


. 250,000 

78,000 

31 

Waterloo. 


. 145,000 

51,000 

35 

Alma. 


. 103,000 

8,400 

8 

Sadowa. 


. 402.000 

33,000 

8 

Gravelotte. 


. 320.000 

48,500 

15 


CHIEF BATTLES OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

(From "Regimental Fosses in the American Civil War,” by William F.Fox.Fieutenant- 
Colonel, U.S.V.) 

As to the loss in the Union armies, the greatest battles in the war were: 


July 1-3, 1863. 

May 8-18, 1864. 

May 5-7, 1864. 

September 17, 1862. 

May 1-3, 1863. 

Sept. 19-20, 1863.... 

June 1-4, 1864. 

Dec. 11-14, 1862. . 

August 28-30, 1862.. 

April 6-7, 1862. 

December 31, 1862. 
June 15-19, 1864- 


BATTLE. 

KILLED. 

WOUNDED* 

MISSING. 

AGGREGATE 

Gettysburg. 

3,070 

14,497 

5,434 

23,001 

Spottsylvania. 

2,725 

13,413 

2.258 

18,399 

Wilderness. 

2,246 

12,037 

3,383 

17,666 

Antietamt. 

2,108 

9,549 

753 

12,410 

Chancellorsville .. 

1,606 

9,762 

5,919 

17,287 

Chickamauga. 

1,656 

9,749 

4,774 

16,179 

Cold Harbor . 

1,844 

9,077 

1,816 

12,737 

Fredericksburg.. 

1,284 

9,600 

1,769 

12,653 

Manassas}:. 

1.747 

8,452 

4,263 

14,462 

Shiloh. . 

1,754 

8,408 

2,885 

13,047 

Stone’s Riverg .... 

1,730 

7,802 

3,717 

13.249 

Petersburg(as'a’lt) 

1.688 

8.513 

1,185 

11.386 


♦Wounded in these, and the following returns include mortally wounded. 

+Not including South Mountain or Crampton’s Gap. 

^Including Chantilly, Rappahannock, Bristol Station and Bull Run Bridge. 
SIncluding Knob Gap, and losses on January 1 and 2, 1863. 

The Union losses at Bull Run (first Manassas), July 21, 1861, were: Killed, 470; 
wounded, 1,071; captured and missing, 1,793; aggregate, 3,334. 

i _ .1 . a ^ 1 ~ 1 m 4-4 rvo rrcmi cm tc o < 



Manassas), 

gate, 1,982. rui l uuuasuu, icujLi., —■—i 1 i - > - - , > 

captured and missing, 13,829; aggregate, 15,829. Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7, 1862, killed, 
1 723; wounded. 8,012; captured and missing, 959; aggregate, 10,694. Seven Days Bat¬ 
tle Virginia, June25-July 1, 862, killed, 3,478; wounded, 16 261; captured and missing, 
875- aggregate, 20.614. Second Manassas, August 21-September 2, killed, 1,481; wounded 
and missing, 7,627; captured and missing, 89; aggregate, 9,197. Antietam campaign, 
September 12-20, 1862, killed, 1,886; wounded, 9,348; captured and missing, 1,367; aggre- 









































198 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


gate, 12,601. Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862, killed, 596; wounded, 4,068; captured 
and missing, 651; aggregate, 5,315. Stone’s River, Tenn., December 31, 1862, killed, 
1,294; wounded, 7,945; captured and missing, 1,027; aggregate, 10,266. Chancellorsville, 
May 1-4, 1863, killed, 1,665; wounded, 9,081; captured and missing, 2,018; aggregate, 
12,764. Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863, killed, 2,592; wounded, 12,706; captured and missing, 
5,150; aggregate, 20,448. Chickamauga, September 19-20, 1863, killed, 2,268; wounded, 
13,613;captured and missing, 1,090; aggregate, 16,971. 

Gettysburg was the greatest battle of the war; Antietam the bloodiest. The largest 
army was assembled by the Confederates at the seven days’ fight; by the Unionists at 
the Wilderness. 


BLOOD AND TREASURE COST IN RECENT WARS. 

The cost of recent wars, according to figures furnished by the Lon¬ 


don Peace Society; is as follows; 

Crimean war. $1,700,000,000 

Italian war, 1859 ./.. 300,000,000 

American civil war—North. 4,700,000,000 

“ “ “ —South. 2,300,000,000 

Schleswig-Holstein war. 35,000,000 

Austrian and Prussian war, 1866 . 330,000,000 

Expeditions to Mexico, Morocco, Paraguay, etc. (say only). 200,000,000 

Franco-Prussian war . 2,500,000,000 

Russian and Turkish war, 1877. 1,100,000,000 

Zulu and Afghan wars, 1879 . 50,000,000 


$13,265,000,000 

This would allow $10 for every man, woman and child on the habit¬ 
able globe. It would make two railways all round the w r orld at $250,000 
per mile each. 

DOSSES FROM WAR IN TWENTY-FIVE YEARS (1855-80 ) 

Killed in battle, or died 
of wounds and disease. 


Crimean war. 750,000 

Italian war, 1859. 45,000 

War of Schleswig-Holstein. 3,000 

American civil war--the North. . . 280,000 

“ “ “ —the South. 520,000 

War between Prussia, Austria and Italy, in 1866 . 45,000 

Expeditions to Mexico, Cochin-China, Morocco, Paraguay, etc_ 65,000 

Franco-German war of 1870-71—France. 155,000 

“ “ “ “ “—Germany. ...\. 60,000 

Russian and Turkish war of 1877. 225,000 

Zulu and Afghan wars, 1879 . 40,000 


Total. 2,188.000 


1 . 

2 . 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6 . 

7. 

8 . 

9. 

10 . 

11 . 

12 . 


LENGTH AND COST OF AMERICAN WARS. 


Wars. 

War of the revolution.. 

Indian war in Ohio territory 
War with the Barbary States 
Tecumseh Indian war....... 

War with Great Britain. 

Algerine war . 

First Seminole war. 

Black Hawk war. 

Second Seminole war. 

Mexican war . 

Mormon war. 

Civil war. 


Length. 

7 years—1775-1782 
1790 

1803-1804 

1811 

3 years—1812-1815 

1815 

1817 

1832 

1845 

2 years—1846 1848 
1856 

4 years—1861-1865 


Cost. 

$ 135,193,703 


107,159,003 


66,000,000 

6,500,boo',666 


AMERICAN DOCKYARDS. 

The navy yards of the United States are eight in number. They are 
Portsmouth, Portsmouth, N. H., Charlestown, Boston, Mass., New York, 
Brooklyn, N. Y., League Island, Philadelphia, Pa., Washington, Wash¬ 
ington, D. C., Norfolk, Norfolk, Va., Pensacola, Pensacola, Fla., and 
















































WAR AND ITS APPLIANCES. 


199 


Mare Island, San Francisco, Cal. There are also five naval stations— 
New London, Conn., Port Royal, S. C., Key West, Fla., Sackett’s Harbor 
N. Y., and Erie, Pa. 

DECISIVE BATTLES OF HISTORY. 

Actium, B. c. 31. The combined fleets of Antony and Cleopatra de¬ 
feated by Octavius, and imperialism established in the person of Octavius. 

Philippi, b. c. 42. Brutus and Cassius defeated by Octavius and 
Antony. The fate of the Republic decided. 

Metaurus, b. c. 207. The Carthaginians under Hasdrubul were de¬ 
feated by the Romans under Caius and Marcus Livius. 

Arbela, b. c. 331. The Persians defeated by the Macedonians and 
Greeks under Alexander the Great. End of the Persian empire. 

Syracuse, b. c. , 414. The Athenians defeated by the Syracusans and 
their allies, the Spartans, under Gylippus. 

Marathon, b. c. 490. The Athenians under Miltiades defeated the 
Persians under Datis. Free government preserved. 

Winfeld-Lippe, a. d. 9. Teutonic independence established by the 
defeat of the Roman legions under Varus at the hands of the Germans 
under Arminius (Hermann.) 

Chalons, a. d. 451. The Huns under Attila, called the “Scourge of 
God,” defeated by the confederate armies of Romans and Visigoths. 

Tours, a. d. 732. The Saracens defeated by Charles Martel and 
Christendom rescued from Islam. 

Hastings, a. d. 1066. Harold, commanding the English army, de¬ 
feated by William the Conqueror, and a new regime established in Eng¬ 
land by the Normans. 

Siege of Orleans, A. d. 1429. The English defeated by the French 
under Joan of Arc. 

Defeat of the Spanish Armada, a. d. 1588. England saved from 
Spanish invasion. 

Lutzen, a. d. 1632. Decided the religious liberties of Germany. 
Gustavus Adolphus killed. 

Blenheim, a. d. 1704. The French and Bavarians under Marshal 
Tallard defeated by the English and their allies under Marlborough. 

Pultowa, a d. 1709. Charles XII. of Sweden defeated by the Rus¬ 
sians under Peter the Great. 

Saratoga, a. d. 1777. Critical battle of the American War of Inde¬ 
pendence. The English defeated by the Americans under General Gates. 

Valmy, a. D. 1792. An invading army of Prussians, Austrians and 
Hessians under the Duke of Brunswick, defeated by the French under 
Kellermann. The first success of the Republic against foreigners. 

Trafalgar. On the 21st of October, a. d. 1805, the great naval battle 
of Trafalgar was fought. The English defeated the French and destroyed 
Napoleon’s hopes to successfully invade England. 

Waterloo, a. d. 1815. The French under Napoleon defeated by tha 
allied armies of Russia, Austria, Prussia and England under Wellington. 

Siege of Sebastopol, a. d. 1854-5. The Russians succumbed to the 
beleaguering armies of England, France and Turkey, and the result was 
delay in the expansion of the Russian Empire. 

Gettysburg, July, a. d. 1863. The deciding battle of the war for the 
Union. The Confederates under General Lee defeated by the Union forces 
under Meade. 

Sedan, a. d. 1870. The decisive battle of the Franco-German war. 



200 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


RECENT DESPERATE WARS. 

Indian Mutiny. General disaffection from a variety of real or 
supposed grievances had been for a long time smoldering amongst the 
Sepoys, who were the flower of the British East India Company’s forces, 
but when a report spread that cartridges smeared with cow and pork fat 
were to be used by the native soldiers, open mutiny, attended with great 
cruelty, broke out. The war which may be said to have commenced in 
March 1857, raged until June 1858. It was marked by a succession of 
romantic, pathetic, and heroic incidents—the siege of Delhi, the massacre 
of Cawnpore, the relief and capture of Lucknow— but was suppressed in 
the latter year, when the East India Company ceased to exist, and the 
government of India w r as assumed by the British crown. A cruel ven¬ 
geance was taken on the mutineers, hundreds of w T hom were strung toge¬ 
ther and blown to pieces at the mouths of cannon. 

The Abyssinian War arose out of the imprisonment of Consul 
Capt. C. Cameron, Rev. H. Stern, a missionary, and others by King 
Theodore, in consequence of a supposed slight by the British Govern¬ 
ment, 1864. Mr. Rassam was sent on a mission to Abyssinia for their re¬ 
lease. On the refusal of the king to surrender the prisoners, an English 
army, some 12,000 strong, under Sir Robert (afterwards Lord) 
Napier, defeated the Abyssinian forces at Arogee, April 10, 1868, and three 
days later stormed the fortress of Magdala. In consequence of this King 
Theodore committed suicide, the prisoners were released, and the war 
terminated. 

American Civie War. This began April 13, 1861, with the capture 
of Fort Sumter, Charlestpn, by the Confederate forces. The North pre¬ 
pared for the contest with energy, and blockaded the Southern ports. 
Throughout the war the Confederates chiefly acted upon the defensive, 
the Federals or Northern forces, being the attacking party, and possess¬ 
ing the advantage of superior forces, money and war material. The prin¬ 
cipal generals of the South were Lee, “Stonewall” Jackson, Hood, Albert 
Sidney Johnston, Lougstreet, Bragg, Beauregard, Stuart, Joseph E. John¬ 
ston; and of the North, Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, McClellan, Thomas, 
Rosecrans, Pope, Butler, Halleck, Baker, Burnside, Fremont, Meade, 
Banks and McDowell. In the campaign of 1861 the advantage was chiefly 
on the side of the Confederates who were victorious at Bull Run (Manas¬ 
sas, Va.) and Ball’s Bluff, Va. (October 21), but suffered a reverse at 
Springfield (August 10) and lost Fort Hatteras, N. C., captured by 
Butler (August 29). During 1862 the Confederates were successful at Bull 
Run (August 20) and in Virginia (June) at Fredericksburg, Va. (Dec. 10- 
15), but sustained severe defeats at Mill Springs, Ky. (January 19), Pea 
Ridge, Ark. (March 6-8), Winchester, Va. (March 23), Williamsburgh, 
Va. Great battles were fought at Shiloh, Tenn. (April 7), Fair Oaks, 
Va. (May 31, June 1), on the Chickahominy (June 25-July 1) and Antie- 
tam Creek, Md. (September 17), in none of which either party could claim 
a victory; but the battle of Antietam Creek obliged Lee to abandon his 
invasion of the North. During this year the naval operations of the 
Federals were generally successful, Admiral Farragut running past the 
forts of the Mississippi and seizing New Orleans (May). The memorable 
conflict between the“Merrimac” (Confederate) and the Federal “Monitor” 
resulted (March 9) in the repulse of the former, the “Merrimac” being 
burnt by the Confederates on the capture of their arsenal at Norfolk, Va. 
(May 11). The war during 1863 was decidedly in favor of the Federal 


WAR AND ITS APPLIANCES. 


201 


forces, although the Confederates, under “Stonewall” Jackson, defeated 
Hooker at Chancellorsville (May 2-4;, Jackson subsequently dying from 
his wounds (May 10) and Lee invaded Maryland and Pennsylvania. At 
Gettysburg, Pa. (July 1-3), Lee was defeated, and retreated into Virginia, 
while at Chattanooga, Tenn. (Nov. 24-25) the Confederates, under Bragg, 
sustained a severe repulse. Grant made a successful campaign in Ten¬ 
nessee, gaining several battles and capturing, Vicksburg, Miss., which 
after a gallant defence, surrendered (July 4). In August the siege of 
Charleston began, and Fort Sumter was destroyed (August 21-22), but 
the city was not taken until 1865 (February 18). With the appoint¬ 
ment of Grant as commander-in-chief, in the early part of 1864 (March 
3) and his vigorous reorganization of the army, the power of the North 
was greatly strengthened. Taking the command of the army of the 
Potomac, Grant opposed the Confederates under Lee, while Sherman 
operated against Joseph E. Johnston. In the Virginian campaign, 
after two days severe fighting (May 3-6) at the Wilderness, the result 
was indecisive, and Grant’s attempt to cut off Lee’s army from Rich¬ 
mond was unsuccessful. At Atlanta, Ga., Sherman, in three battles 
(July 20, 22, 28), defeated the Confederates under Hood. In the Shenan¬ 
doah valley the Federals were victorious in several engagements (August) 
and under Sheridan at Winchester (September 9) and Cedar Creek 
(October 19). In November General Sherman marched through Georgia 
to Savannah, w 7 hich was entered December 21, while at Nashville, Tenn., 
the Confederates under Hood were defeated (December 14-16) by the 
Federals under Thomas. Among the incidents of this year were the sink¬ 
ing (June 19) by the Federal corvette “Kearsarge” of the Confederate 
steamer “Alabama” commanded by Captain Semmes, which had caused 
great devastation among the Federal shipping, and the destruction 
(August 5,) by Admiral P'arragut, of the Confederate flotilla at Mobile. 
The war closed in 1865 by the defeat of Lee at Five Forks, Va., 
(March 31-April 2) by Sheridan, who again defeated Lee at Sailor’s. 
Creek (April 6.). Lee subsequently surrendered (April 9) his army to Grant 
who had occupied Richmond, the capital of the Confederate States (April 
2) on its evacuation by the Southern forces. The other Confederate 
armies soon afterwards surrendered. An amnesty, with certain limita¬ 
tions, w T as proclaimed (May 29) by President Andrew Johnson (1865-69), 
who, as vice-president, succeeded Abraham Lincoln, assassinated in Ford’s 
Theatre, Washington, by J. Wilkes Booth (April 14) Lincoln having but 
newly entered on his second term of office. 

Russo-Turkish Wars. Of the many wars between the Muscovite 
and Mohammedan powers, we cite the two latest: (1) The first arose from 
a demand on the part of Nicholas, the Czar of Russia, of a protectorate 
over the Greek Christians in Turkey. The Sultan refused the demand, 
and appealed to his allies. Russia declared war against Turkey, Novem¬ 
ber 1, 1853. England and France declared war against Russia, March 
27, 28, 1854. Sardinia joined the allies January 26, 1855. Among the 
great battles of this war were Alma (September 20,1854),Balaclava(October 
25, 1854), during which occurred the memorable “Charge of the Six 
Hundred.” Inkerman (November 5, 1854), Tchernaya (August 16, 1855), 
in all of which the Russians w 7 ere defeated. The great event of the war was 
the siege of Sebastopol (commenced October 17, 1854), which fell Septem¬ 
ber 8, 1855; The war which is usually termed the Crimean war, was 
ended by the treaty of peace concluded at Paris, March 30, 1856. One 
of the articles of this treaty was that the Christians of Turkey, without 


202 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


any preference to Russia, should have the protection of all the Powers 
concerned in the treaty. (2) The second war arose (1877-8; from sub¬ 
stantially the same cause as the war of 1853-6, viz., the desire of Russia 
to protect the Greek Christians of Turkey. By a protocol of March 31, 
1877, the Great Powers agreed to see the promised reforms of Turkey 
carried out. This protocol was repudiated by Turkey, and war was de¬ 
clared by Russia against Turkey, April 24. Among the more prominent 
events of this war were General Gourko’s march through the Balkans 
(July 13),his defeat by Suleiman Pasha at Eski Sagra (July 30), and Sulei¬ 
man Pasha’s desperate, but fruitless, attempt to gain the Schipka Pass 
held by General Gourko; the fall of Kars (November 18), and of Plevna 
(December 10), and Suleiman Pasha’s defeat by Skobeloff and Radetsky 
at Senova (January 9, 1878), the battle which virtually ended the war. 
Treaty of San Stefano (March 3), modified by treaty of Berlin (July 13), 
by which Bulgaria was created an automatic and tributary principality, 
Servia and Roumania were declared independent, and Bosnia and Her¬ 
zegovina were ordered to be occupied and administered by Austria. 

Zulu War (1879). Cetewayo, king of Zululand, became embroiled 
with the British on the annexation by the latter of the Transvaal, and 
the British, under Lord Chelmsford, crossed the Tugela, and entered 
Zululand (January 12). They suffered a terrible reverse at Isandhlwana 
(January 22), with a loss of eight hundred men, and in spite of the 
heroic defence of Rorke’s Drift (January 22), had to retreat. Eventually 
reinforcements arrived, and the Zulus were defeated at Ginghilono 
(April 2), and Ulundi (July 4). Cetewayo was captured (August 28 ) x and 
a despatch from Sir Garnet Wolseley (September 3), announced the end 
of the war. Cetewayo died (February 8, 1884), the New Republic was 
formed by a party of Transvaal Boers (1886-87), and the annexation of 
the remainder of Zululand as a British possession was proclaimed (June 
21, 1887). Trouble subsequently arose, and several Zulu chiefs were con¬ 
victed of high treason and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment 
(1888-9). Towards the end of 1891, the resolution of the colonial authori¬ 
ties to impose Zibebu as chief upon the northern tribes, was protested 
against by Miss Colenso as likely to lead to further troubles in Zulu¬ 
land. 

Franco-German War. The friction between France and Prussia, 
arising from the proposed cession of Luxemburg, became accentuated by 
the demand of France that the Crown of Spain, offered (1870) to Prince 
Leopold of Hohenzollern, should not be accepted by that Prince. On the 
refusal of Prussia to accede to this request, war was declared by France 
(July 19, 1870). The Prussian forces, about 640,000 strong, in wdiich 
were associated the states of the North and South German Confederation, 
were divided into four armies, the first, that of the North, commanded 
by Gen. Vogel von Falkenstein; the second, that of the Centre, com¬ 
manded by Gen. Steinmetz; the third, that of the Right, under Prince 
Frederick Charles; and the fourth, that of the Left, led by the Crown 
Prince, the King (William) of Prussia being commander-in-chief* with 
Gen. Von Moltke as head of the Staff. The whole army was in the 
highest state of preparation and efficiency. The French army, about 
300,000 strong, on the other hand, badly organized and practically un¬ 
prepared for the contest, was formed into six army corps, respectively 
commanded by Generals Frossard, De Failly, Bazaine, MacMahon, Lad- 
nierault and Marshal Canrobert. The Emperor, nominally commander- 
in-chief, had as his second in command, General Le Bceuf, to whom, 


WAR AND ITS APPLIANCES. 


203 


later, Marshal Bazaine succeeded. The war resulted in an almost un¬ 
broken series of successes for the Germans. After victories at Woerth 
and Forbach (both on August 6), the Germans invested the fortress of 
Strasburg (August 10—capitulated September 28), and sat down before 
Metz, which capitulated (October 27), after the battles of Longueville 
(August 14), Mars ha Tour (August 16), Gravelotte or R£zonville (Aug¬ 
ust 18), and unsuccessful attempts at a sortie by Marshal Bazaine (August 
26 and October 6). At Sedan the French under Marshal MacMahon were 
hopelessly beaten (September 1), and the Emperor surrendered to the 
Prussian King (September 2), and was deported as prisoner to Wilhelms- 
hohe (Cassel). At Paris (September 4) the deposition of the Imperial 
dynasty was declared, and the establishment of a Republic proclaimed by 
M. Gambetta and other members of the Left in the Legislative Assembly. 
A government of defence was proclaimed, with General Trochu as Presi¬ 
dent, M. Gambetta as Minister of the Interior, M. Jules Favre (Foreign), 
General Le Flo (War). The Empress Eugenie fled from Paris (September 
4), and settled at Chiselhurst. Negotiations for peace between M. Favre 
and Count Bismarck ended in failure (September 24), and a proclamation 
from the Government at Tours was issued calling upon the people “to 
fight to the bitter end.” The siege of Paris was commenced by the Ger¬ 
mans (September 15), and five days later the troops at Versailles sur¬ 
rendered, and the Crown Prince of Prussia occupied the place. A levke en 
■masse of all under twenty-five years of age was ordered by the govern¬ 
ment (September 23), and all Frenchmen between twenty and twenty- 
five years were prohibited (September 26) leaving France, those between 
twenty-one and forty years being organized as a national garde mobile. 
M. Gambetta, escaping by means of a balloon from the beleagured city 
(October 7), was appointed by the government at Tours Minister of War. 
An attempt on the part of the Red Republicans at Paris, headed by 
Blanqui, Ledru-Rollin and others, to establish a Commune in that city, 
was successfully defeated (October 14). The news of the capitulation of 
Metz caused riots at Paris (October 31). As the result of a plebiscite to 
confirm the powers of the Government of Defence, the votes recorded 
were 557,976 for, 62,638 against. The successes of the German arms 
continued, the army of the Loire was defeated by the Grand Duke of 
Mecklenburg (November 17), the fortresses of Verdun (November 8) and 
Thionville (November 27) capitulated. The army of the Loire under 
General Chanzy was again attacked and defeated at Beaugency (December 
8). After various battles, the army of the Loire, fighting and retreating, was 
defeated by Prince Frederick Charles at Le Mans (January 11, 1871), and 
near Vosges (January 15-16). The army under General de Paladines, 
entrenched at Orleans, suffered defeat by Prince Frederick Charles (De¬ 
cember 4), and Orleans surrendered, Rouen being two days later occu¬ 
pied by General Manteuffel, who engaged the army of the North under 
General Faidherbe at Point & Noyelles (December 23), and at Bapaume 
(January 2-3, 1871), the French retreating in each case. General Bour- 
baki was also defeated by the German general Von Werder, near Belfort 
(January 15-17), and General Von Goeben gained a victory over the 
French under Faidherbe at St. Quentin (January 19). After gallant, 
but unsuccessful sorties from Paris by Generals Trochu and Ducrot (No¬ 
vember 20 and January 21), the city, which had been bombarded, capitu¬ 
lated (January 28). Following the fall of Paris, Gen. Bourbaki’s army 
was defeated (January 30-February 1) by the Germans under General 
Manteuffel, and driven across the frontier into Switzerland. The fortress 


204 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


of Belfort capitulated (February 16) with military honors after a long de¬ 
fence. An armistice took place preparatory to negotiations for peace. On 
the resignation of M. Gambetta a National Assembly was elected (Feb¬ 
ruary 8) of which M. Grevy was chosen president, M. Thiers becoming 
head of the executive power. The French Government was recognized 
by the chief European powers (February 18), and (February 26) prelimi¬ 
naries of peace were signed by MM. Thiers and Favre and fifteen dele¬ 
gates of the National Assembly on the part of France, and Count Bis¬ 
marck on the part of Germany. By this France was to cede certain 
parts of Lorraine, including Metz and Thionville and Alsace, excluding 
Belfort. In addition, five milliards of francs ($1,000,000,000) were to be 
paid as war indemnity to Germany; certain departments to be occupied 
by German troops until this was fully discharged. The treaty, signed 
February 26, was accepted by the National Assembly sitting at Bordeaux 
(March 1), by 546 votes to 107, at the some time unanimously confirming 
the fall of the Empire. The Germans after occupying Paris for forty- 
eight hours (March 1-3), withdrew from Versailles (March 12). A Peace 
Conference met at Brussels (March 28), and at Frankfort a definite treaty 
of peace was signed (May 10), and ratified by the French Assembly (May 
21). The last instalment of the indemnity was paid September 5, 1873, 
and the last of the German troops quitted French soil (September 16). 
The Red Republicans under the lead of Blanqui, Gustav Flourens and 
Felix Pyat rose in revolt (March 18, 1871) against the Government, held 
Paris and established the Commune, which was not suppressed until the 
insurgents had committed many outrages and destroyed much property, 
after holding possession of Paris until May 28, when the troops under 
Marshal MacMahon captured the city; some eight hundred troops were 
killed, the Communist forces losing fifty thousand. One-fourth of Paris 
was destroyed, the loss to property being estimated at $160,000,000. Great 
numbers of the Communists were subsequently tried, some executed, and 
the remainder transported. 

THE LATEST EXPLOSIVE. 

It begins to look as if the days of gunpowder as a charge for 
the guns in the British navy were numbered. Recent experiments at the 
government proof butts, Woolwich, appear to prove the decided superior¬ 
ity of cordite. A six-inch quick firing gun was loaded with twenty-nine 
pounds twelve ounces of the ordinary black gunpowder and yielded a ve¬ 
locity of 2,890 feet per second, with a pressure strain on the gun of fif¬ 
teen tons per square inch. The same gun was charged with fourteen 
pounds three ounces of cordite, and gave a velocity of 2,274 feet per 
second, and a pressure of 15.2 tons. More important still, after 250 
rounds had been fired there were no signs of erosion. The new sub¬ 
stance is manufactured by the English government, and contains fifty-six 
percent of nitro-glycerine, thirty-seven of gun cotton and five of mineral 
jelly. The velocity of the shot along the bore of the six-inch gun was 
calculated to the millionth of a second from the first moment of beino- 
set in motion. Minute as they may appear, Lieut. H. Watkin, R. A.^ 
has invented an instrument which, it is said, will measure fractions of 
time to the nine-billionth part of a second! About fifty of the six-inch 
quick-firing guns have been supplied to the navy, and the authorities at 
the Royal Gun Factories have begun the manufacture of the larger guns 
of the same pattern, with a velocity of 1,300 miles per hour. 



CREEDS OF THE WORLD. 


Happy the man who sees a God employed 
In all the good and ill that checker life! 

Resolving all events, with their effects 
And manifold results, into the will 
And arbitration wise of the Supreme. 

—Cowper. 

NOTES ON FAITH AND WORSHIP. 

Apollo was worshipped on Mt. Parnassus. 

The name “diabolos” means “ a slanderer. ” 

There is no definition of religion in the Bible. 

The first altar mentioned was that raised by Noah. 

The cross was first displayed in churches about 431. 

*The term Puritan was first used in England in 1567. 

In the Greek church all priests are called Papa, or Pope. 

The Passion Play at Oberammergau was instituted in 1634. 

Deism is the term for natural as opposed to revealed religion. 

The poet Young wrote: “ By night an atheist half believes a God.” 

The Jains are an East Indian sect, between the Hindus and Buddhists. 

Marabouts are religious devotees held in great reverence by the 
Berbers. 

Abrahamites were a Bohemian sect that prevailed about 1782, now 
extinct. 

Some writers insist that absolute atheism has never existed in a rea¬ 
soning mind. 

It was Shakspeare who said that “the devil can cite Scripture for 
his purpose.” 

The adherents of Zoroastrianism, the ancient faith of Persia, are 
called Parsees. 

The shamrock is said to have been used by St. Patrick as a symbol 
of the Trinity. 

The oldest church edifice in this country is that of San Miguel, 
Santa F£, N.M. 

No general term equivalent to religion is found either in Chinese, 
Sanscrit or Hebrew. 

Giaour is a term applied by the Turks to all who do not believe in 
Mahommedanism. 


205 



206 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Tennyson calls faith “ the great world’s altar stairs, that slope thro* 
darkness up to God.” 

What are called the monastic vows are three in number—poverty, 
chastity and obedience. 

The British and Foreign Bible Society has issued the Good Book in 
three hundred tongues. 

The canonical books are those books of Holy Scripture accepted as 
genuine by Christian churches. 

He was a cunning wag who said: “Orthodoxy is my doxy and 
heterodoxy is the other fellow’s.” 

Washington endorsed the idea that if there had been no God men 
would have been obliged to imagine one. 

The ascetics were ancient Christians who sought a higher and more 
spiritual life by means of severe penances. 

Sir Isaac Newton said: “ I find more sure marks of authenticity in 
the Bible than in any profane history whatever.” 

Charles Kingsley observes that true religion will make a man a more 
thorough gentleman than all the courts in Europe. 

A strict definition of nihilism is that system of philosophy which 
totally rejects religion and substitutes nothing for it. 

The ten persecutions of the early Christian church are dated from 
the years 64, 95, 106, 166, 202, 235, 249, 258, 274 and 303 A.D. 

Freethinker was the name applied from one to two centuries ago to 
those deists who favored natural as against revealed religion. 

The Stoics taught that God is the soul of the world, and that man’s 
supreme good is to live in the perfect harmony of the universe. 

There are two places in London where clergymen can buy sermons 
printed. They cover all subjects, and can be had for every season. 

The Gnostics were an early speculative school, with principles based 
on oriental philosophy, combined with certain tenets of Christianity. 

The belief in and worship of one personal God is called monothe¬ 
ism. Judaism, Christianity and Mahommedanism are all monotheistic. 

Dervishes are Mohammedan devotees. They are divided into two 
sections—the Mevlevies, or dancing, and the Nakshbendies, or howling 
dervishes. 

The chamber or vault beneath a church, generally under the altars, 
where the dead, and particularly ecclesiastics, were formerly entombed, 
is called a Crypt. 

The Treacle Bible is Beck’s Bible of 1549, in which the word balm is 
rendered treacle. The Bishops’ Bible has tryacle (Jer. iii, 22; xlvi, 11; 
and Ezek. xxvii, 17). 

The Apple of Sodom is a fruit mentioned by Strabo, Josephus, and 
others, as growing on the shores of the Dead Sea. It was tempting to 
the eye, but if tasted filled the mouth with bitter ashes. It is supposed 
to have been an oak-gall, or the fruit of the solanum. 

The deluge is the inundation of the world recorded in the Mosaic 
history. It began December 7, 1656, a.d., or 2348, b.c., and lasted 377 
days (Gen. vi, vii, viii). The mythological history of many nations men¬ 
tion inundations which correspond with the Scriptural account. 


CREEDS OF THE WORLD . 


207 


Antichrist is a name which occurs only in the epistles of St. John, 
and is identified by different writers with more or less probability with 
false Christs, and other enemies of Christianity. 

The Angelus Bell is, in Catholic churches, a bell rung at morning, 
noon and sunset, to invite the faithful to recite the Angelic Salutation. 
It gives name to a very famous picture by Millet. 

The great writers and teachers who succeeded the Apostles from the 
second to the sixth centuries are those called the Fathers of the Church. 
They included St. Athanasius, St. Augustine, etc. 

The consistories were councils formed for maintaining ecclesiastical 
discipline and regulating divine worship in the German Lutheran Church, 
1542-55. A consistory is the highest papal council. 

Many of the South Sea islanders believe that paradise can be inher¬ 
ited only by persons of perfect physical forms. Where this belief pre¬ 
vails a man will die rather than submit to amputation. 

An assembly of the clergy of cathedral churches, usually held in the 
chapter house, is called a chapter. The Parliaments of England were 
held in the chapter-house of Westminster Abbey from 1377 to 1547. 

The five points of Calvinism as set forth by John Calvin of Picardy 
are: (1) Predestination and reprobation; (2) original sin; (3) particular 
redemption; (4) irresistible grace; (5) the perseverance of the saints. 

Coverdale’s Bible was issued in 1535. This translation of the Bible 
by Miles Coverdale, afterwards Bishop of Exeter, was dedicated to Henry 
VIII., and was the first English Bible sanctioned by royal authority. 

The primary meaning of Chapel was a chest containing relics or 
their shrine. Now it is a place of worship subordinate to a cathedral or 
large church, or connected w r ith a castle, university or other institution. 

Though often treated as a proper name by the translators, Belial is 
really an abstract term meaning “that which is without use or profit,” 
hence “ wickedness.” “ Sons of Belial ” is one of the commonest forms 
in use. 

The staff, terminating in a cross, carried before archbishops, is known 
as the crozier; it was used as early as 500 a. d. The crozier of an arch¬ 
bishop differs from that of a bishop in having a cross instead of a crook 
on the top. 

Canonization is the act by the Pope of declaring a deceased person 
to be a saint. The deceased’s name is then put in the Canon or Litany 
of the saints, and a day dedicated to his honor. Canonization cannot 
take place within less than fifty years of the death of the person to be 
canonized. 

The Cartesian doctrines, founded on the principle “I know, there¬ 
fore I am,” were first promulgated by Rene Descartes of Touraine in 
1837. He held that thought proceeded from the soul, so that man was 
not entirely material, and that the soul must be from some being not 
material— i. e. God. 

In the Roman Catholic Church, the reception of the tonsure, a bare 
circle on the crown of the head, precedes admission into orders, and is 
administered by the bishop. The Greek priests also bear the tonsure. 
The earliest ecclesiastical precept on the tonsure occurs in a canon of 
the Council of Toledo (633 A. d.). 


208 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMA LION. 


All travelers in India have seen the Bonze, which is the European 
name for Buddhist priests, wdio in many respects resemble monks in the 
Christian Church, doing penance and praying for the sins of the laity. 
There are also female bonzes. 

There are three religious systems in China: That of Yu, restored by 
Koun-fou-tse (Confucius); the State religion, in which the emperor acts 
as the priest and intermediator; and the third is Buddhism. There are, 
however, Moslems, Christians and even a few Jew r s in China. 

The name of Buddhists (i. e., “the enlightened,”) is applied to the 
followers of Gautama Siddhartha, the Sakya Muni, generally called Bud¬ 
dha, a prince of Central India. Founded about 500 b.c. Buddhism is the 
chief religion in India beyond the Ganges, China, Japan and Ceylon. 

In the National Museum at the City of Mexico is the stone head of 
an idol which, until its discovery by some missionaries a short time ago, 
was still being worshipped by the Indians in the State of Morelos. The 
head was on a statue of immense size, covered wdth a crocodile’s hide. 

The Swedenborgians, or “The New Jerusalem Church,” are the fol¬ 
lowers of Dr. Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). They hold peculiar 
views respecting salvation, inspiration, and the Trinity. In regard to 
the Trinity, they believe it to be centred in the person of Jesus Christ. 

The purgatory of the Islamites is called A1 Araf, and it is supposed 
to be located half way between hell and paradise. Mohammed is believed 
hy the whole sect of Islam to be the only person wdio has ever gone to 
paradise without being forced to go through a preparatory course at A1 
Araf. 

Among curious copies of the Scriptures is one known as the Breeches 
Bible, printed in 1577 by Whittingham, Gilby, and Sampson. So called 

because Gen. iii. 7 runs thus: “The eyes of them bothe were opened. 

and they sewed figge-tree leaves together and made themselves breeches.” 
It is also called the “Geneva Bible.” 

Dies irce (day of w r rath) are the opening w^ords of a Latin hymn 
which describes the judgment of the world. Ascribed to various authors, 
among others to Pope Gregory the Great (590) and St. Bernard, but more 
generally to Tommaso da Celano (fifteenth century); c. 1385 adopted into 
the Roman Catholic Church liturgy. 

The Zendavesta is said to have been written by Zoroaster in letters of 
gold on twelve thousand skins of parchment, and to have been deposited 
by Darius Hystaspes in the Castle of Persepolis, about B. c. 500. ‘ 4 Zend ’’ 

is the language and “ a vesta ”=text. The compound word means the 
sacred books of Zoroaster in the Zend tongue. 

Gehenna is the place of everlasting torment. Strictly speaking, it 
means the Valley of Hinnom {Ge Hinnom), where sacrifices to Moloch 
w^ere offered, and where refuse of all sorts was subsequently cast, for the 
consumption of which fires w^ere kept constantly burning. There was 
also a sort of aqua lofana, called liquor Gehenna. 

Kulturkampf is the term applied to the ecclesiastical controversy wdth 
the Church of Rome in Germany, arising from an effort of the State to 
vindicate its right to interfere in the affairs of all religious societies. 
The contest began in 1872 with the expulsion of the Jesuits, and ended 
with Prince Bismarck’s concessions in revisions of the politico-ecclesi¬ 
astical legislation in 1886 and 1887. 


CREEDS OF THE WORLD. 


209 


Taouism is the name given to a religious system in China founded 
by Eao-Tseu, who was born b. c. 604. It has degenerated into a sort of 
polytheism. Its priests, who are looked on as magicians and astrologers, 
are consulted about the sites of houses, burial grounds, fortunate days, 
and other responses of the fortune-teller’s character. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States holds a gen¬ 
eral conference once in four years, which is the highest legislative body 
in that Church. The Wesleyan-Methodists also hold an annual confer¬ 
ence in Great Britain, at which the business of the body is transacted 
and arrangements for the circuits made for the year. 

The Agapemone (abode of love), is a conventual establishment near 
Bridgewater, England, instituted 1859, by Henry J. Prince, formerly a 
clergyman. Its members profess to devote themselves to spiritual 
recreation, and maintain spiritual marriage. The sect, which had fallen 
into obscurity, has recently come again into prominence. 

The religion of the followers of Mahommed (570-632) is embodied 
in the Koran. It includes belief in one God, in angels, in good and evil 
spirits, in a general resurrection and judgment, with future rewards and 
punishments, in predestination, and in a Paradise where the faithful 
spend their time in the society of beautiful women (houris). 

Ultramontane, meaning “beyond the mountains,” originally referred 
to the Alps—namely, in relation to France. Eater it had reference to 
that party in the Church of Rome which assigns the greatest weight to 
the papal prerogative. Italians of course use the word in a converse 
geographical sense for people beyond the Alps, and so in the north of 
Europe. 

Koran (Arab., from karaa , “to read”), The Reading , by way of emi¬ 
nence; a term first applied to every single portion of Mahommed’s “Rev¬ 
elations,” used at a later period for a greater number of these, and fin¬ 
ally for their whole body, gathered together into the one book which 
forms the religious, social, civil, commercial, military, and legal code 
of Islam. 

American pioneers were God-fearing and Bible-loving. They staked 
out town lots in twenty-two Bethels, ten Jordans, nine Jerichos, fourteen 
Bethlehems, twenty-two Goshens, twenty-one Shilohs, eleven Carmels, 
eighteen Tabors and Mount Tabors, twenty-two Zions and Mount Zions, 
twenty-six Edens, thirty Lebanons, twenty-six Hebrews and thirty-six 
Sharons. 

Secularism is the name given to the principles advocated (about 1846) 
by George Jacob Holyoake, a native of Birmingham. The central idea 
of Secularism is freedom of thought, and freedom of action without in¬ 
jury to others. It is the religion of the present life only, and its stand¬ 
ard of morals is utilitarian. Mr. G. J. Holyoake was succeeded in the 
leadership of English secularists by Mr. Charles Bradlaugh, who died 
in 1891. 

The secular clergy are the clergy generally who live in private 
houses. Nearly all archbishops, bishops, deans, canons and parochial 
clergymen are seculars, in contradistinction to the regulars, who, having 
vowed obedience, chastity and poverty, live in some religious house, 
dead to the world and the “ civil law ” by their “entrance into religion.” 
Called ‘ ‘ regulars ’ ’ because they live under the regula or rule of some 
religious house. 

U. I.—14 


210 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Hades, in the religion of ancient Greece, was the name applied to 
the kingdom of the under-world, the abode of the departed spirits or 
shades. Hades and Pluto are also personal names for its king. It is 
the Greek word by which the Septuagint translates the Hebrew sheol, 
the abode of the dead, in which sense it occurs frequently in the New 
Testament. 

The devotional term litany applies to a form of prayer in which the 
same thing is repeated several times at no long intervals. Hence in 
Latin the word is always used in the plural, litanies. The common for¬ 
mula ^Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison —“Lord, have mercy 
upon us—Christ, have mercy upon us—Lord, have mercy upon us”—is 
the simplest (“lesser”) litany. 

The English church assembly termed Convocation, is recorded to 
have met under the king’s writ in 1294. Its power was limited by Henry 
VIII., and further in 1716. Since 1854 its proceedings have been formal, 
though it was authorized to deliberate on alterations of the Liturgy in 
1872. Convocation is now a deliberative council of representative Church¬ 
men, but has no official authority. 

In the ceremony of the greater excommunication by the Catholic 
Church, since the eighth century, after reading the sentence a bell is 
rung, the book closed, and a candle extinguished; and from that moment 
the person excommunicated is excluded from the communion of the 
faithful, from public worship, and the sacraments. Hence comes the 
expression “bell, book and candle.” 

Camp-meetings are gatherings of devout persons, held usually in 
thinly populated districts, and continued for several days at a time. It 
was in connection with Methodism in America that such meetings became 
especially prominent. The introduction of the protracted camp meetings 
into England in 1799 by Lorenzo Dow, led to the separation of the Prim¬ 
itive Methodists from the Wesleyans. 

Humanitarians is a name assigned to anti-Trinitarians, who regard 
Christ as a mere man, and refuse to ascribe to him any supernatural 
character, whether of origin or of nature. The name Humanitarian is also 
sometimes applied to the disciples of St. Simon, and in general to those 
who look to the perfectibility of human nature as a great moral and social 
dogma; also to those who, from over-philanthropy, object to severe 
measures, such as capital punishment, etc. 

The Temple Society is a body of German Christians who wait for the 
second coming of Christ. They separated from the Church in Wiirtem- 
berg and formed a separate sect; and many of them settled in Palestine 
in 1868, where they now have colonies at Haifa, Jaffa, Sarona and near 
Jerusalem. They are distinguished for industry, enterprise and success. 
There may be about five thousand in all of the community, of whom 
about thirteen hundred are in Palestine. 

The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament, made 
from the Massoretic text at Alexandria. Tradition says that it was 
executed in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus (284-47 B. c.), by seventy- 
two translators in 72 days; but critics hold that it is the work of different 
times. The Septuagint was the official Bible of the Hellenistic Jews until 
after the destruction of the Temple, and it became the official Bible ot 
the Catholic Church. Most of the Old Testament quotations in the New 
Testament are taken from the Septuagint. 


CREEDS OF THE IVORLD. 


211 


Mephistopheles is the name of one of the best-known personifications 
of the principle of evil. The word has been very variously explained, 
but is probably of Hebrew origin, like most names of devils in the his¬ 
tory of magic, confounded with, and approximated in form to, the Greek 
mephostopliiles, “one who loves not light.” Mephistopheles owes all 
his modern vitality to Goethe’s “Faust.” 

The Mojaves believe that all who die and are not cremated are turned 
into owls, and when they hear the dismal screech of one of the above 
named creatures of the night, they tell you that it is the spirit of some 
dead Mojave who has returned to advise his people to submit to the ordeal 
of fire. When one of the tribe dies his relations and immediate friends 
do not eat salt or wash themselves for four days. 

The -word bull is derived from the Eatin bulla , “a bubble of water,” 
and then “around ball of any kind.” In the middle ages it came to 
signify the capsule of the seal appended to letters from emperors or 
popes, next it was used for the seal itself, and lastly for the document 
to which the seal was appended. Its use is now commonly restricted to 
papal documents issued with certain indispensable formalities. 

The Douay Bible was a translation made by the professors connected 
with the College of Douay, founded in 1568 by Dr. William Allen for the 
education of English boys designed for the Roman Catholic priesthood. 
These students were to be sent into England as itinerant preachers, 
with the view of creating a reactionary feeling and upsetting the Re¬ 
formed Church. Dr. Allen himself worked on the translation. 

The title of Beelzebub -was given to the form of Baal worshipped by 
the Philistines at Ekron. As the heathen deities were all regarded as 
demons by the Jews, the name Beelzebub became, in course of time, 
commonly applied to the chief of evil spirits, and in this sense it is em¬ 
ployed in the Gospels. The more correct reading of the word is Beelzebul> 
variously explained as “lord of the dwelling,” “lord of the dunghill.” 

The Graal or “The Holy Graal” was a miraculous chalice made of a 
single emerald, which was stated to possess the power of preserving 
chastity and prolonging life. It is said to have been the cup from which 
Christ drank at the last supper, and in which Joseph of Arimathea 
caught the last drops of blood as Christ was taken down from the cross. 
In 1170 Chretien of Troyes sang of the search by knights for this miracu¬ 
lous cup, which was a very favorite subject in the middle ages. 

The Veda is the sacred canon of the Brahmins. It is divided into 
four collections: (1) the Rig-veda, or love of praise (hymns); (2) the 
Sama-veda, or love of tunes (chants); (3) the Yajur-veda, or love of 
prayer, and (4) the Atharva-veda, or love of the Atharvans. Each col¬ 
lection is divided into three parts: (1) The sacred texts (mantra); (2) the 
ritual (Brahmana); and (3) the philosophical portion (Upanishads). The 
hymns of the Rig-veda are supposed to have been collected about 1000 b. c. 

The Targums are paraphrastic translations of the Hebrew Script¬ 
ures into Aramaic, the only tongue generally known to the Jews in 
post-exilic times. No single Targum covers the whole of the Old Testa¬ 
ment, but in one and another there are versions of all the books, except 
Ezra and Nekemiah. The Targums, long oral, were committed to writ¬ 
ing in Christian times. The Onkelos Targum and the Targum ascribed 
to Jonathan ben Uzzill, the principal of the eighty disciples of Hillel, 
are the most famous. 


212 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Among the great monastic orders Benedictines is the general name 
given to the followers of St. Benedict (480-543), whose rule bound the 
monk to permanent abode in the monastery, chastity, renunciation of 
private property, daily and public solemnization of the' divine office, a 
life of frugality and labor, and filial obedience to the abbot. The order 
has produced many literary works, but has taken little interest in poli¬ 
tics. Though at one time very powerful, the membership today does 
not exceed eight hundred. 

The Tabernacle was the portable tent in which the Ark of the Cove¬ 
nant was conveyed, and as such the sanctuary of Israel. It seems to 
have been superseded by a more permanent building at Shiloh before 
David’s time. In Roman Catholic churches the name is given to the 
receptacle in which the consecrated elements of the Eucharist are 
retained. It is commonly a small structure of marble, metal or wood, 
placed over the high altar and appropriated exclusively to the reserva¬ 
tion of the Eucharist, no other object whatever being allowed to be 
kept in it. 

The word cabbala, which literally means “tradition,” in itself 
might be used for any Jewish doctrine not explicitly contained in the 
Hebrew Bible since the text assumed its present form. The moral and 
ritual precepts of the Talmud are all ascribed to a tradition that can be 
traced step by step. But in its technical sense, the cabbala signifies a 
secret system of theology, metaphysics and magic prevalent among the 
Jews. The cabbalists taught a pantheistic doctrine, which came to them 
from the later and degenerate philosophies of Greece. 

The Shakers are a religious sect, the official title of which is ‘ ‘The 
United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing. ” They are an 
offshoot of the Quakers founded by Ann Lee, of Manchester, England, 
who with eight of hei disciples came to America in 1774. Here the Shakers 
have founded eighteen societies, distributed over seven States. They prac¬ 
tise celibacy and community of goods, and are firm believers in the doc¬ 
trine of spiritualism. The wild, violent motions, from which they obtained 
their name, have given place to a regular dance to the singing of a hymn. 

A synagogue is a Jewish place of worship. The origin of this insti¬ 
tution is probably to be traced to the period of the Babylonian captivity, 
although tradition finds it in the patriarchal times. When, through 
Ezra’s instrumentality, the ancient order of things was restored in Judea, 
synagogues were established in all the towns for the benefit of those who 
could not take part oftener than three times a year in the worship of the 
temple at Jerusalem, and a special ritual of readings and prayers was in¬ 
stituted. From the time of the Maccabees we find them even in all the 
villages. 

Hospitallers, in the Roman Catholic Church, are charitable brother¬ 
hoods, founded for the care of the poor and of the sick in hospitals. 
They follow for the most part the rule of St. Augustine, and add to the 
ordinary vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, that of self-dedication 
to the particular work of their order. The Knights of St. John of Jerusa¬ 
lem and the Teutonic Knights were both originally hospitallers. The 
Knights Hospitallers of the Holy Spirit were founded at Montpellier in 
1198 by Guy of Montpellier, and the hospitallers of Our Lady of Christ¬ 
ian Charity at Paris in the end of the thirteenth century by Guy de 
Joinville. And numerous similar orders have been established since 
then. 



CREEDS OF THE WORLD. 


213 


There is no date from beginning to end in the Bible. It comprises some 
sixty documents, and is supposed to have been written by about forty men; 
fifty-four miracles are recorded in the Old and fifty-one in the New 
Testament; total, one hundred and five. The shortest verse in the Old 
Testament is “Remember Lot’s wife.” There is one in the New Testa¬ 
ment shorter, i.e ., John xi, 35, equaled in words, though not in letters, by 
Thessalonians v, 16, “Rejoice evermore.’’ Then there are two chapters 
in the Bible alike verbatim, and one book, Esther, in which the Deity is 
not mentioned. 

The vigil w r as originally the watch kept, with public prayer on the 
night before a feast, traceable in the very earliest centuries, and is one 
of the usages against which Vigilantius inveighs, and which Jerome vin¬ 
dicates in his reply, though he admits the abuses that often accompanied 
it, and which ultimately brought about its suppression. The old observ¬ 
ance survives in the Roman Church now only in the matins and lauds 
and the midnight mass before Christmas, and the term is applied to the 
day and night preceding a feast. The “watch night” service at New 
Year’s is analogous. 

The Society of Friends or Quakers was founded in 1624 by George 
Fox, a shoemaker, of Drayton, in Leicestershire. They believe in the 
main fundamental principles of what is called “Orthodox Christianity,” 
but they express their religious creed in the very words of the New 
Testament Scripture and each member has the liberty of interpreting 
the words. Their main specialty is the belief of “the Light of Christ 
in man,” and hence they entertain a broader view of the Spirit’s influ¬ 
ence than other Christians. In morals, propriety of conduct, good order, 
and philanthropy, the Quakers are a pattern society. 

The Tunkers, by corruption Dunkards (but by themselves called 
“the Brethren”), is a religious sect found chiefly in Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska 
and Kansas. Altogether they number nearly one hundred thousand, 
and are almost confined to the United States, although small bodies 
exist in Denmark and Sweden. Yet the sect had its birth in Germany, 
being indeed a child of the Pietist movement of the seventeenth cent¬ 
ury; but betweeen 1719 and 1729 all the members, harassed and perse¬ 
cuted at home, had, on Penn’s old invitation, removed to Pennsylvania 
and settled about Germantown and Philadelphia, from whence they 
gradually spread southward and westward. In their creed the Brethren 
are thoroughly evangelical. 

The Gutenberg (? Schoffer) Bible is the earliest book printed in mov¬ 
able metal type. It contains no date, but a copy in the “ Bibliotheque 
Mazarine,” formed in 1648 for the Cardinal Mazarin by G. Naude, and 
given to the public in 1688, contains the date of the illuminator Cremer, 
1456, so that the Bible must have been printed before that date. Only 
seven copies in vellum exist, but there are known to be twenty-two 
copies on paper, some of them very imperfect. In 1855 Mr. Quaritch, 
bookseller, of London (according to the Methodist Recorder ) gave $19,- 
500 for a copy at Sir J. Thorold’s; certainly in 1887 he gave $13,250 
for the copy in the library of the late Earl of Crawford. One was sold 
in 1873 for $17,000, and a copy was sold in 1889 for $10,000. A good vel¬ 
lum copy is worth $20,000. Of course it was called the Mazarine Bible 
because the copy in the Mazarine Library, Paris, gives the approximate 
date. 


214 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


The term Apocrypha (a Greek word meaning “hidden”, “secret”) 
seems, when applied to religious books or writings, to have been used (1) 
for such as were suitable, not for the mass of believers, but for the initiated 
only; works containing the esoteric or recondite teaching of the faith or 
sect; (2) works the date, origin, and authorship of which were unknown 
or doubtful; (3) works which claimed to be what they were not, were 
spurious or pseudepigraphic. When the Apocrypha is spoken of, the 
Apocrypha of the Old Testament is generally meant. Another large 
group may be called the apocryphal books of the New Testament. 

The Vulgate is the authorized translation of the Scriptures into Latin 
in use in the Roman Catholic Church. Before the end of the fourth 
century the Vetus , or old Latin version, called also the Itala (because in 
use in Italy), had become exceedingly corrupt, and in 382, Jerome, at 
the request of Pope Damasus, undertook to revise and correct this version. 
The Gospels were completed in 383, and the whole New Testament soon 
after; and this revision of the old version is the present text of the Vul¬ 
gate New Testament. The official edition of the authentic Vulgate now 
in use in the Roman Catholic Church is that published by Clement 
VIII. in 1592. 

The Trappists are a religious order founded in 1140 in Normandy by 
Rotrou, Compte de Perche. It was refounded by Abbe de Ranee in 1636. 
It is a reformed Benedictine order. The female order, called Trappis- 
tines, was instituted 1822. When driven out of France in 1791 the Trap¬ 
pists went to Switzerland and built the monastery called Val-Sainte , 
which was suppressed in 1811. Fifty-nine monks of La Trappe migrated 
from England to France in 1817 and settled in La Loire Inferieure. In 
1822 the Trappists had sixteen houses in France. Their chief monas¬ 
tery was burnt to the ground in August, 1871. They have several houses 
in the United States. 

Under the name of breviary Roman Catholics understand the book 
which contains all the ordinary and daily services of their church except 
(a) those connected with the celebration of the Eucharist, which are 
contained in the Missal, and {b) those for special occasions, such as bap¬ 
tisms, marriages, ordinations, funerals, etc., which are contained in the 
Ritual or Pontifical , according as they fall -within the sphere of ordinary 
priests or of bishops. In the Established Church of England, therefore, 
the breviary would be exactly represented by a prayer-book containing, 
after the preface, tables, etc., the morning and evening prayer, litany, 
Athanasian creed, collects, psalter and all the lessons for every day in 
the year, with the addition of a complete set of hymns for the different 
occasions. 

Theosophy is a name often applied to the systems of the speculative 
mystics of the mediaeval and later times, as Eckhart, Bohn, Schelling 
and others. The term is now applied to the tenets of the Theosophical 
Society, founded at New York (1875) by Colonel Olcott and Madame 
Blavatsky {d. 18911, an American Russian. The search after divine 
knowledge, the investigation of the powers of man and of the hitherto 
unexplained laws of nature, the study of Eastern philosophy, and the 
establishment of a universal brotherhood, are some of the objects which 
it sets before itself. The most striking tenet of theosophy to outsiders 
is that which asserts that man is possessed of hitherto undeveloped 
powers oyer nature, in which respect it has affinities with mediaeval 
Rosicrucianism and modern Spiritualism. 


CREEDS OF THE WORLD. 


215 


The Holy Alliance was a league formed in 1816 after the fall of 
Napoleon by the sovereigns of Russia, Austria and Prussia, whereby they 
pledged themselves to rule their peoples like fathers of families, and to 
regulate all national and international relations in accordance with the 
principles of Christian charity. But the alliance was made in actual fact 
a means of mutual encouragement in the maintenance of royal and im¬ 
perial absolutism, and an instrument for suppressing free institutions 
and checking the aspirations for political liberty struggling into realiza¬ 
tion amongst the nations of the Continent. The league died a natural 
death after the lapse of a few years. 

Wakes and ly ke-wakes are very different things. A lyke or liche wake 
is a watching of the dead body (Ang.-Sax. lie) all night by the friends 
and neighbors of the deceased. It used to be a scene of revelry and 
mourning, the object being to watch the body from being interfered 
with by evil spirits. The other “ wake ” is about equal to “ vigil,” and 
every church had its wake on the anniversary of the saint. A religious 
service was given, but, as the crowd became great, hawkers and minstrels 
assembled, and the wake became a fair, held in the churchyard. In 
1285 Edward I. forbade fairs to be held in churchyards, but the practice 
continued to the time of teh Reformation. 

Among the Jews the Talmud is a book held in high veneration, con¬ 
taining the Mishna, or oral law, and the Gemara, or commentary on the 
Mishna. There are two forms, or editions of the Talmud. (1) the Pales¬ 
tinian (commonly called the Jerusalem Talmud) completed about the 
middle of the fifth century and (2) the Babylonian Talmud completed 
towards the end of the sixth century. The latter is the larger and more 
valuable of the two. The Talmud is divided into Halaka , or legal part, 
and Hagada , or legendary part. The Halaka still rules Jewish life, es¬ 
pecially in regard to dietary laws, marriages and festivals, and is the 
authoritative text-book of all rabbinic tribunals. 

The Flagellants were fanatics w T ho appeared at sundry times in 
Europe, and marched about in procession along the streets and public 
roads to appease the wrath of God. They marched two and two, singing 
dolorous hymns, mingled with groans, and every now and then stopped 
to whip each other with scourges to “ atone for the sins of the people.” 
They first appeared in the eleventh century under St. Peter Damian; 
again in 1268, when Reinier, a Dominican, formed them into a sect; again 
in 1349, when Germany was attacked with the pestilence called the Black 
Death; again in 1574, when Henri III. of France joined the sect. They 
still exist in Italy, France, Mexico and New Mexico, but their number is 
small. 

The natives of Botocudes, one of the hottest regions of the earth, 
believe that heaven will be a land of cool streams and shady groves 
entirely cleared of all underbrush and cacti! All desert-dwellers, it is 
said, die expecting to awake in a w T ooded land supplied bountifully with 
cold water. Natives of the frozen north have paradise pictured as 
a land of warm sunshine, with glowing fires overhung with pots of boil¬ 
ing whale’s blubber, and easeful couches of fur scattered here and there. 
The Caroline islanders, who are passionately fond of liquor, but who 
are in mortal dread of breaking their necks by falling from one of the 
millions of cliffs with which their islands abound, believe that paradise 
will be a land as level as a floor, where one can get drunk and not be in 
constant dread of cracking his cervical vertebrae. 


216 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The Catholic sisterhood known as Beguines was organized in the 
Netherlands in the twelfth century. They are still extant in Germany, 
but there is at Ghent the noted Beguinage of St. Elizabeth, with seven 
hundred sisters, who live in a separate quarter of the town in one hun¬ 
dred and three little brick-built cottages, with eighteen convents and 
two churches, arranged in streets and squares within a common wall, 
open to the visits of strangers. Living here a life of retirement and 
piety, the Beguines, in their simple dark dresses, go out as nurses to the 
hospitals and perform other acts of kindness among the poor. Though 
they are under no monastic vow, it is their boast that none is known to 
have quitted the sisterhood. 

The Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, was founded by Ignatius Loyola, and 
confirmed by Paul III. in 1540. It was monarchical in its constitution 
and secular, while all other Catholic societies are more or less democratic 
and regular. The head of the society is called the General, or Prcepo- 
situs Generalise and holds his office for life. This General has absolute 
command over the whole society, and from his decisions there is no ap¬ 
peal. The four objects of the society are: (1) the education of youth; (2) 
the education of others by preaching, etc.; (3) the defense of the Catholic 
faith against all heretics and unbelievers, and (4) the propagation of the 
Catholic faith among the heathen. The Jesuits wear no monastic garb, 
but dress like any other of the “secular clergy,” and live in no religious 
house, but in private dwellings. 

Candlemas is an ecclesiastical festival observed on 2d February in * 
honor of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, when she presented the in¬ 
fant Jesus in the temple. The great feast of expiation and purification 
{Februa) in ancient Rome was held on the 15th of February. Its institu¬ 
tion as a Christian festival took place in the reign of Emperor Justinian 
in 541 or 542. A principal part of the celebration is a procession of light- 
candles—hence the name. There is a tradition all over Christendom to 
the effect that a fine Candlemas portends a severe spring. Sir Thomas 
Browne in his Vulgar Errors quotes a Latin distich expressive of this 
idea. In Scotland the prognostication is expressed in the following 
distich: If Candlemas is fair and clear. 

There ’ll be twa winters in the year. 

The Wahabees is the name of a reforming Mahommedan sect founded 
by Abd-el-Wahhab (1691-1787), a renowned Oriental scholar of the prov¬ 
ince of Nejd, in Arabia, who prohibited to his followers the use of intoxi¬ 
cating liquors and tobacco, and reasserted the primitive doctrine and 
practice of the Koran. Subjected to persecution, the Wahabees appealed 
to the sword, and acquired, in addition to the character of a reforming 
religious sect, that of a native Arabian political party. At one time their 
power extended over almost the whole of Arabia, Mecca being conquered 
in 1803, and Medina in 1804. The Wahabees’ power was for a time 
broken by Mehemet Ali, of Egypt, and his son, Ibrahim Pasha (acting 
for the Ottoman Porte), and the Wahabees’chief was beheaded (December 
19, 1818), in the public square in front of St. Sophia, Constantinople; but 
the empire of the Wahabees was speedily re-established, wfith Nejd for its 
nucleus, and at the present day extends, a well-organized and strong 
independent state of Arabia, in abroad belt across the center of the pe¬ 
ninsula, from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf, the population being esti¬ 
mated at four millions. After 1823, for many years, the Wahabees gave 
trouble in India. 


CREEDS OF THE WORLD. 


217 


The societies formed to distribute the Holy Scriptures are called 
Bible societies. The following are the names of the chief societies, their 
nationality, date of foundation, and approximate total issue of copies( in 
whole or in part) of the Bible: England, British and Foreign, 1804 (due 
to the initiative of a Welsh clergyman), translated into some three hun¬ 
dred different languages, 100,000,000; Scotland, National, k861 (from 
union of older soc., as the Edinburgh, 1809), 6,000,000; Ireland, Hiber¬ 
nian, 1806, 5,000,000; United States 1816, 40,000,000; France, two societies 
f. 1818 and 1833; Germany, Prussian, 1814; Switzerland, Basle, 1804; Rus¬ 
sian, 1826, suppressed, but revived 1831, Sweden, 1808; Norway, 1816; 
Netherlands, 1815. 

The Kaaba, or “Caaba,” was taken possession of by Cossai about 455, 
and was restored in 1630 by the Sultan Mustapha. The word means “the 
square house, ’ ’ and it designates a stone building in the great mosque at 
Mecca. Next the silver door is the famous Black Stone, “Dropped from 
Paradise.” It was originally white, but the sin of the world has turned 
it black. In pilgrimages the devotee walks round the Kaaba seven 
times, and each time he passes the stone either kisses it or lays his hand 
thereon. According to Arabian legend Adam, after his expulsion from 
the garden, worshipped Allah on this spot. A tent was then sent down 
from heaven, but Seth substituted a hut for the tent. After the flood 
Abraham and Ishmael rebuilt the Kaaba. 

By infallibility is meant entire exemption from liability to erro r 
when the pope speaks ex cathedra. The dogma of papal infallibility was 
promulgated by the Vatican Council in 1870. As adopted by the Council 
it is thus defined: “We teach and define that it is a dogma Divinely re¬ 
vealed, that the Roman pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra , that is, 
when in discharge of the office of pastor and doctor of all Christians, by 
virtue of his supreme authority, he defines a doctrine regarding faith and 
morals to be held by the universal Church, by the Divine assistance 
promised him in blessed Peter is possessed of that infallibility with which 
the Divine Redeemer willed that His Church should be endowed for de¬ 
fining doctrines regarding faith or morals; and that, therefore, such 
definitions of the Roman pontiffs are irreformable of themselves and not 
by consent of the Church. ’ ’ 

The Waldenses, or Vaudois, is a sect inhabiting the valleys of the 
Cottian Alps, in Northern Italy. It was founded by Peter Waldo 
(1170), a rich merchant of Lyons, who sold his goods and gave the money 
to the poor, and then went forth as a preacher of the doctrine of Christ 
from a translation of the New Testament made into Provencal. The 
preaching of the Waldenses led to collision with the ecclesiastical au¬ 
thorities, and they were formally condemned by the Lateran Council of 
1215. Persecution increased, and the Waldenses, originally an esoteric 
society within the Church, withdrew altogether from its ministrations, 
and appointed ministers of their own, election taking the place of ordi¬ 
nation. By the end of the thirteenth century they were found in France, 
Italy, Spain and Germany; but their numbers were greatly reduced, and 
their limits circumscribed, by persecution on the one hand, and the gen¬ 
eral movement of Protestantism at the Reformation on the other. They 
have, at present, about forty churches, with four thousand members. 


218 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


THE SEVEN BIBEES OF THE WORLD 

Are the Koran of the Mahommedans, the Eddas of the Scandinavians* 
the Try Pitikes of the Buddhists, the P'ive Kings of the Chinese, the 
Three Vedas of the Hindoos, the Zendavesta, and the Scriptures of the 
Christians. The Koran is the most recent of these seven Bibles, and not 
older than the seventh century of our era. It is a compound of quota¬ 
tions from the Old and New Testaments, the Talmud, and the Gospel of 
St. Barnabas. The Eddas of the Scandinavians were first published in 
the fourteenth century. The Pitikes of the Buddhists contain sublime 
morals and pure aspirations, and their author lived and died in the sixth 
century before Christ. There is nothing of excellence in these sacred 
books not found in the Bible. The sacred writings of the Chinese are 
called the Five Kings, king meaning web of cloth, or the warp that keeps 
the threads in their place. They contain the best sayings of the best 
sages on the ethico-political duties of life. These sayings cannot be 
traced to a period higher than the eleventh century b. c. The Three 
Vedas are the most ancient books of the Hindoos, and it is the opinion 
of Max Muller, Wilson, Johnson, and Whitney that they are not older 
than the eleventh century b. c. The Zendavesta of the Persians is the 
grandest of all the sacred books, next to our Bible. Zoroaster, whose 
sayings it contains, was born in the twelfth century b. c. Moses lived 
and wrote his Pentateuch in the fifteenth century b. c., and, therefore, 
has a clear margin of three hundred years older than the most ancient 
of the sacred writings. 


NATIONALITY OF THE POPES. 

The various nations of Europe are represented in the list of Popes as 
follows: English, 1; Dutch, 1; Swiss, 1; Portuguese, 1; African, 2; Aus¬ 
trian, 2; Spanish, 5; German, 6; Syrian, 8; Greek, 14; French, 15; Italian, 
197. Eleven Popes reigned over 20 years; 69, from 10 to 20; 57, from 5 to 
10; and the reign of 116 was less than 5 years. The reign of Pius IX. 
was the longest of all, the only one exceeding 25 years. Pope Leo XIII. 
is the 258th Pontiff. The full number of the Sacred College is seventy, 
namely: Cardinal Bishops, 6; Cardinal Priests, 50; Cardinal Deacons, 14. 
At present there are 62 Cardinals. The Roman Catholic hierarchy 
throughout the world, according to official returns published at Rome 
in 1884, consisted of 11 Patriarchs and 1,153 Archbishops and Bishops. 
Including 12 coadjutor or auxiliary bishops, the number of Roman 
Catholic archbishops and bishops now holding office in the British Empire 
is 134. The numbers of the clergy are approximate only. 


FATE OF THE APOSTLES. 

The following brief history of the fate of the Apostles may be new 
to those whose reading has not been evangelical: 

vSt. Matthew is supposed to have suffered martyrdom or was slain 
with the sword at the city of Ethiopia. 

St. Mark was dragged through the streets of Alexandria, in Egypt 
till he expired. r ’ 

St. Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in Greece. 

St. John was put into a caldron of boiling oil at Rome and escaped 
death. He afterward died a natural death at Ephesus in Asia. 

St. Janies the Great was beheaded at Jerusalem. 




CREEDS OF THE WORLD . 


219 


St. James the Less was thrown from a pinnacle or wing of the temple 
and then beaten to death with a fuller’s club. 

St. Philip was hanged up against a pillar at Hieropolis, a city of 
Phrygia. 

St. Bartholomew was flayed alive by the command of a barbarous 
king. 

St. Andrew was bound to a cross, whence he preached unto the 
people till he expired. 

St. Thomas was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel, 
in the East Indies. 

St. J ude was shot to death with arrow’s. 

St. Simon Zealot was crucified in Persia. 

St. Matthias was first stoned and then beheaded. 

St. Barnabas was stoned to death by Jews at Salania. 

St. Paul was beheaded at Rome by the tyrant Nero. 


THE NAME OF GOD IN FORTY-EIGHT LANGUAGES. 


Hebrew.Eleah, Jehovah 

Chaldaic.Eibah 

Assyrian.Eleah 

Syrian and Turkish. Alah 

Malay.Alla 

Arabic ....Allah 

Languages of the Magi.Orsi 

Old Egyptian.Teut 

Armenian.Teuti 

Modern Egyptian.Teun 

Greek. Theos 

Cretan.Thios 

Aedian and Dorian.Ilos 

Latin .Deus 

Low Latin .Diex 

Celtic Gaelic. .. Diu 

French.Dieu 

Spanish.Dios 

Portuguese.Deos 

Old German. Diet 

Provincial.Diou 

Low Breton.Done 

Italian.Dio 

Irish .Dia 


Olotu tongue. 

German and Swiss. 

Flemish. 

Dutch. 

English. 

Teutonic. 

Danish and Swedish, 

Norwegian. 

Slav . 

Polish. 

Polacca. 

Lapp. 

Finnish.. 

Runic . 

Zemblian. 

Pannoniau. 

Hindoostanee. 

Coromandel. 

Tartar .. 

Persian. 

Chinese. 

Japanese. 

Madagascar. 

Peruvian. 


. .. Deu 

.Gott 

.God 

.God 

.God 

.Goth 

.Gud 

. ; ... Gud 

....... .. .Buch 

.Bog 

.Bung 

.Jubinal 

.Jumala 

..As 

.Fetiza 

.Istu 

.Rain 

■.Brama 

.Magatai 

.Sire 

.Prussa 

.Goezer 

. Zannar 

Puchecammae 


THE SALVATION ARMY. 


The Salvation Army is a missionary organization set on foot in Eng¬ 
land by William Booth, who was called the “General” of the army. The 
plan of operation is for a company to march about cities, towns, and vil¬ 
lages, singing popular sacred songs and speaking between whiles for 
about five minutes. The army has also a large number of religious period¬ 
icals and small books. Mr. Booth was a minister of the Methodist New 
Connexion, which he left in 1861 to begin “revivalistic services” in a 
tent in Whitechapel. In 1865 his little band of followers called them¬ 
selves “The East London Christian Revival Society,” afterwards changed 
to “The Christian Mission.” In 1869 the Mission made expeditions to 
provincial towns. Lastly, in 1873, the name was changed to ‘ ’The Salvation 
Army.’’ Their literary organ called “The Christian Mission' firstappeared 
monthly in 1874. In 1879 it was called “ The Salvationist ” and in the 
same year its title was changed into “ The War Cry .” Its flag now flies 
in thirty-four countries or colonies, where, under the leadership of 11,- 





















































220 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMA TION. 


149 men and women, whose lives are entirely given up to the work, it 
holds 49,800 religious meetings every week. It has 27 weekly newspapers 
and 15 magazines, with a total annual circulation of 49,015,044. It has 
accumulated $4,015,085 worth of property, pays rentals amounting to 
$1,100,000 per annum for its meeting places, and has a total income from 
all sources of $3,750,000. The Army literature is issued in fifteen lan¬ 
guages and services are held in 29 languages. The number of local officers, 
bandsmen and office employes is 23,540. The United States branch was 
established in 1880. There are now in this country 536 corps and out¬ 
posts and 1,487 officers, with 15,000 adherents. The value of the prop¬ 
erty held by the United States wing of the Army is $175,000. 


WORSHIP OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. 

The following estimates, by M. Fournier de Flaix, are the latest that 
have been made by a competent authority. (See Quarterly of the Ameri¬ 
can Statistical Association for March, 1892.) 


CREEDS. 

No. of Followers. 

CREEDS. 

No. of Followers. 

1 Christianity. 

2 Worship of Ancestors 

and Confucianism 

3 Hindooism. 

4 Mahommedanism .... 

477,088,158 

256,000,000 

190,000,000 

176,834,372 

5 Buddhism. 

6 Taoism.%. 

7 Shintoism. 

8 Judaism. 

9 Polytheism. 

147,900,000 

43,000,000 

14,000,000 

7,056,000 

117,681,669 

CHRISTIANITY. 

CHURCHES. 

Total. 

CHURCHES. 

Total. 

Catholic Church. 

Protestant Churches. 

Orthodox Greek Church. 
Church of Abyssinia. 

230,866,533 

143,237,625 

98,016,000 

3,000,000 

120,000 

Armenian Church. 

Nestorians. 

Jacobites..... 

1,690,000 

80,000 

70,000 

Coptic Church. 

477,080,158 


' THE GREAT COUNCILS. 

A council or synod, is an assembly of ecclesiastics met to regulate doc¬ 
trine or discipline. We first hear of such assemblies during the Mou- 
tanist controversy, about 150 a. d. (Ecumenical councils are convoked 
from all parts of Christendom, and claim to regulate the affairs of the 
whole church. Other synods have represented the East and West respec¬ 
tively. Patriarchal, national, and primatial councils represent a whole 
patriarchate, a nation, or the several provinces subject to a primate, 
while the bishops and other dignitaries of a province constitute a provin¬ 
cial; the clergy of a diocese under the presidency of the bishop, a dio¬ 
cesan council. Mixed councils during the middle ages dealt with civil 
as well as ecclesiastical affairs, and were composed of secular persons 
as well as churchmen. Sometimes, but not always, the lay and eccle¬ 
siastical members voted in separate chambers. 

The Greek Church recognizes seven general councils—viz.: (1) The 
first of Nicsea, 325 A. d. ; (2) the first of Constantinople, 381; (3) Ephesus, 
431; (4) Chalcedon, 451; (5) second of Constantinople, 553; (6) third of 
Constantinople, 680; (7) second of Nicaea, 787. To these Roman Cathol¬ 
ics add: (8) fourth of Constantinople, 869; (9) first Lateran, 1123; (10) 
second Lateran, 1139; (11) third Lateran, 1179; (12) fourth Lateran, 1215; 



































CREEDS OF THE WORLD . 


221 


U3) first of Lyons, 1245; (14) second of Lyons, 1274; (15) Vienne, 1311; 
(16) Constance, 1414-18, of which Ultramontanes accept only the decrees 
passed in sessions 1442-45 inclusive and such decrees of earlier sessions 
as were approved by Martin V.; (17) Basel, 1431 and the following years, 
oecumenical according to Ultramontanes only till the end of the twenty- 
fifth session, and even then only in respect of such decrees as were ap¬ 
proved by Eugenius IV.; (18) Ferrara-Florence, 1438-42, really a contin¬ 
uation of Basel; (19) fifth Lateran, 1512-17; (20) Trent, 1545-63; (21) 
Vatican, December 8, 1869, to July 18, 1870, and still unfinished. 


MORMONS AND THEIR “BOOK.” 

The Mormons or Latter Day Saints, are a religious sect founded in 
1830 by Joseph Smith, of Vermont, who declared that he received his 
mission from an angel in 1823. This angel told him where to find certain 
plates containing the records of the ancient American prophets. These 
plates were about as thick as tin, and held together by three rings run¬ 
ning through them all. The character employed was ‘ ‘Reformed Egyp¬ 
tian,” and with the plates were deposited the “Urim and Thummim,” 
or spectacles for deciphering them. The plates say that the Americans 
were a colony from the Tower of Babel at the confusion of tongues. The 
Mormonites receive their name from the prophet Mormon who wrote 
the plates called “The Book of Mormon.” There are in the United 
States 856 organizations with 166,125 communicants in the Mormon 
Church. Polygamy so long practiced has given place to monogamy. 

A notable publication was the “Book of Mormon” claiming to be 
the “revealed” history of America from its first settlement by a colony 
dispersed at the confusion of tongues to the fifth century of the Chris¬ 
tian Era. Joseph Smith professed that this information was obtained 
by him in September, 1827, in a volume of metal plates engraved in 
reformed Egyptian, and discovered by revelation “on the west side of 
a hill, not far from the top, about four miles from Palmyra, in the 
county of Ontario.” As Smith could not decipher the writing, a pair of 
magic spectacles, which he called his Urim and Thummim, were given to 
him, and one Oliver Cowdery wrote down on paper what Smith professed 
to translate. It is said that the “Book” is a mere plagiary of a MS. 
romance by the Rev. Solomon Spalding in 1816. Certainly the plates and 
spectacles have disappeared. _ 

CREEDS OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

Washington, Garfield and Harrison were the only Presidents who 
were church members, but all, one excepted, were men who revered 
Christianity. Adams married a minister’s daughter, and was inclined to 
Unitarianism. Jefferson was not a believer, at least while he was Chief 
Magistrate. Madison’s early connections were Presbyterian. Monroe 
is said to have favored the Episcopal Church. John Quincy Adams was 
like his father. Jackson was a Presbyterian and died in the communion 
of that church. Van Buren was brought up in the Reformed Dutch 
Church, but afterwards inclined to the Episcopal Church. Harrison 
leaned toward the Methodist Church, and Tyler was an Episcopalian. 
Polk was baptized by a Methodist preacher after his term of office expired. 
Taylor was inclined to the Episcopal communion. Fillmore attended 
the Unitarian Church, and Franklin Pierce was a member, but not a 
communicant, of a Congregationalist Church, at Concord. Buchanan was 




222 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


a Presbyterian, as is also Benjamin Harrison. General Grant attended 
the Methodist Church, and President Garfield the Church of the Disci¬ 
ples. Grover Cleveland has worshipped with the Presbyterians. 


RELIGIOUS BODIES IN THE UNITED STATES. 
(according to reports of census of 1890.) 


DENOMINATIONS. 

ORGANIZA¬ 

TIONS. 

CHURCH 

EDIFICES. 

COMMUNI¬ 

CANTS. 

Adventists. 

1,756 

744 

60,491 

Baptists... 

41,629 

35,093 

3,594,093 

(River) Brethren. . 

111 

69 

3,427 

(Plymouth) Brethren. 

232 

4 

6,408 

Catholics. 

10,260 

8,799 

6,255,033 

Catholic Apostolic. 

10 

3 

1,394 

Chinese Temples . 

47 

47 

Christadelphians. 

63 

4 

1,277 

Christians.. 

1,424 

1,097 

103,722 

Christian Missionary Association. 

13 

11 

754 

Christian Scientists. 

221 

7 

8,724 

Christian Union. . . 

294 

183 

18,214 

22,511 

Church of God (Winnebrenarian). 

479 

338 

Church Triumphant (Schweinturth). 

12 


381 

Church of New Jerusalem. 

154 

87 

7,095 

Communistic Societies. 

37 

45 

4,401 

Congregationalists. . 

4,868 

4,736 

512,771 

Disciples of Christ. 

7,246 

5.324 

641.051 

Dunkards.. 

969 

1,018 

73,845 

Evan. Association. 

2 310 

1.899 

133,313 

Friends. 

1,056 

995 

107,208 

Friends of the Temple. 

4 

5 

340 

Ger. Evan. Protestant. 

52 

52 

36,156 

German Evan. Synod . . 

870 

785 

187 432 

Jewish Congregations. 

533 

301 

130.496 

Latter-Day Saints. . 

856 

388 

166.125 

Lutherans. 

8,595 

6.702 

1,231,072 

Mennonites. 

550 

405 

41,541 

Methodists. 

51,503 

46,150 

4,588,662 

Moravians. 

94 

114 

11 781 

Presbjderians. 

13,476 

12.452 

1,278.332 

Episcopalians. 

5,102 

5,103 

540,509 

Reformed. 

2,181 

2,079 

309,458 

Salvation Army. 

329 

27 

8,662 

Sehwenkfeldians. 

4 

6 

'306 

Social Brethren. . 

20 

11 

913 

Society for Ethical Culture.. 

4 


1,064 

45,030 

Spirituali-ts. . 

334 

30 

Theo«ophical Society,. 

40 

1 

695 

United Brethren. 

4,526 

3,419 

225,158 

Unitarians . 

421 

424 

67,749 

Universalists. 

956 

832 

• 49,224 

Unassociated congregations. 

150 

103 

12,228 

Grand totals. 

163,786 

139,928 

20.489.697 


WHAT IS A STATE RELIGION ? 

A state religion and a national religion are two different things. A 
nation may, with more or less universal concurrence, accept a certain 
type of religion—as the people of the United States for the most part ac¬ 
cept Christianity—yet they may not commit.to their government the 
task either of representing officially or of maintaining financially their 



































































CREEDS OF THE WORLD . 


223 


religion. In that case it is a national but not a state religion. Wherever, 
on the other hand, we witness either establishment or endowment com¬ 
mitted to the government—even if, as in Ireland till 1869, the religion 
thus favored is very far from being national—there we have the spectacle 
of a state religion. 


AN OMITTED PSALM. 

Your Bible, if it is of the regulation sort, closes the Book of Psalms 
with the 150th. In the Greek Bible, however, there is another entitled 
“A Psalm of David After He Had Slain Goliath.” Athanasius praises it 
very highly in his “Synopsis of the Holy Scriptures.” It was versified 
by Apollinarius Alexandrius, a. d. 360, and a Latin translation of it 
may be found in the works of Fabricus, Vol. II., pp. 995-997. The trans¬ 
lation below is by Baring-Gould, the well-known antiquarian. 

PSAIyM CI*I 

1. I was small among my brethren; and growing up in my father’s house, I kept 
his sheep. 

2. My hands made the organ and my fingers shaped the psaltery. 

3. And who declared unto my Lord. He, the Lord, he heard all things. 

4. He sent his angels and they took me from my father’s sheep; he anointed me 
in mercy from his unction. 

5. Great and goodly are my brethren, but with them God was not well pleased. 

6. I went to meet the [giant] stranger; and he cursed me by all his idols. 

7. But I smote off his head with his own drawn sword; and I blotted out the re¬ 
proach of Israel. 


RELIGION AS A SCIENCE. 

A religion is a group or wdiole of religious phenomena—of religious 
beliefs, practices and institutions—so closely connected wfith one another 
as to be thereby differentiated from those of any other religion. Each 
religion has had a history, and its rise and spread, formation and trans¬ 
formations, as a religion, can only be truly traced by being histori¬ 
cally traced. Also religions are historically connected, are related to 
one another, and have influenced one another, in ways which may 
be discovered, and can only be discovered, by historical research. 
Hence the History of Religions is also the history of religion, 
not an aggregation of the histories of particular religions, but a 
truly general history. Like the histories of art, industry, science, and 
society in general, it is found on examination to have been a process of 
development in which each stage of religion has proceeded gradually 
from antecedent factors and conditions. The precise nature of the devel¬ 
opment can only be ascertained by investigation of the history itself. No 
hypothesis of development should be assumed as a presupposition of such 
investigation. Naturalistic apriorism is as illegitimate in historical in¬ 
quiry as theological or metaphysical apriorism. The history of religion 
is not only of great importance in itself, but indispensable to the right 
understanding of general history, of the history of art, of philosophy, 
etc. It has been studied with more zeal and success during the nineteenth 
century than in all the preceding ages. The history of religious beliefs 
is, of course, only a part of the history of religions. It is, however, dis¬ 
tinguishable, although inseparable from it, and is often and conveniently 
designated Comparative Theology. It comprehends comparative myth¬ 
ology and the history of doctrines, myths being beliefs which are mainly 
the products of imagination and doctrines of reflection. 

The Psychology of Religion, the History of Religions, and Compara¬ 
tive Theology are clearly distinct, and ought not to be confounded. At 




224 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


the same time they are closely connected. They agree in that they are 
alike occupied with religion as an empirical fact. Hence they may be 
regarded as parts of a comprehensive science, to which it might 
be well to confine the designation “Science of Religions,” instead 
of using it in the vague and ambiguous way which is so com¬ 
mon. Thus understood, the Science of Religions may be said to deal 
with religion as a phenomenon of experience, whether outwardly mani¬ 
fested in history or inwardly realized in consciousness; to seek to describe 
and explain religious experience so far as it can be described and ex¬ 
plained without transcending the religious experience itself. Its stu¬ 
dents have only to ascertain, analyse, explain and exhibit experienced 
fact. Were religion a physical fact, to study it merely as a fact would be 
enough. The astronomer, the naturalist, the chemist have no need to 
judge their facts; they have only to describe them, analyze them, and 
determine their relations. But it is otherwise with the students of re¬ 
ligion, of morality, of art, of reasoning. They soon come to a point 
where they must become judges of the phenomena and pronounce on 
their truth and worth. Experience in the physical sphere is experience 
and nothing more; experience in the spiritual sphere is very often ex¬ 
perience of what is irreverent and impious, immoral and vicious, ugly 
and erroneous, foolish or insane. Has the mind simply to describe and 
analyze, accept and be content with such experience? Even the logician 
and thesesthetician will answer in the negative, will claim to judge their 
facts as conforming to or contravening the laws of truth ana the ideals 
of art. Still more decidedly must the moralist and the student of re¬ 
ligion so answer. Religion, then, is not completely studied when it is 
only studied historically. Hence it must be dealt with by other sciences 
or disciplines than those which are merely historical. 

All the particular theological sciences or disciplines treat of particu¬ 
lar aspects of religion or of religion in particular ways. Their relation¬ 
ships to one another can only be determined by their relationship to it. 
They can only be unified and co-ordinated in a truly organic manner by 
their due reference to it. When religion is studied not merely in partic¬ 
ular aspects and ways, but in its unity and entirety, with a view to its 
comprehension in its essence and all essential relations, it is the object 
of the Philosophy of Religion. Although a distinct and essential depart¬ 
ment of philosophy, and the highest and most comprehensive theological 
science, the philosophy of religion could only have appeared in an inde¬ 
pendent and appropriate form when both philosophy and theology were 
highly developed. 

THE TESTIMONY OE LITERATURE. 

To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards 
are distant and which is animated only by Faith and Hope, will glide 
by degrees out of the mind, unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by 
external ordinances, by stated calls to worship and the salutary influence 
of example.— Johnson. 

The writers against religion, w’hilst they oppose every system, are 
wisely careful never to set up any of their own.— Burke. 

A little philosophy inclineth a man’s mind to atheism, but depth of 
philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.— Bacon. 



JOTTINGS IN SCIENCE. 


Go abroad 

Upon the paths of nature, and when all 
Its voices whisper, and its silent things 
Are breathing the deep beauty of the world, 

Kneel at its simple altar. 

—N. P. Willis. 

ANSWERS TO MANY QUERIES. 

Newton was born in 1642. 

The word philosophy means “I love wisdom.” 

Astrology rightly means the science of the stars. 

Galileo constructed the first refracting telescope. 

The term science comes from the Latin scio, I know. 

At the equator the limit of perpetual snow is 14,400 feet. 

Perigee is that point in the moon’s orbit nearest the earth. 

Torricelli, a pupil of Galileo, invented the barometer in 1643. 

The principle of the pendulum was discovered by Galileo in 1583. 

Among all rude nations the healing art is practiced by the priests. 

The Leyden Jar-was invented by Muschenbrock, of Leyden, in 1746. 

Perihelion is that point of a planet’s orbit in which it is nearest 
the sun. 

The first balloon ascent was made in 1783 by Joseph and Stephen 
Montgolfier. 

Froebel reminds us that nature supplies the raw material, education 
is the manufacturer. 

As physics means the science of matter, it is about synonymous with 
natural philosophy. 

Aphelion is that point in the elliptical orbit of a planet which is 
most remote from the sun. 

The inductive school of philosophy, on which modern science has 
been developed, began about 1624. 

The horse-power of Niagara is three and one quarter million nomi¬ 
nal, equal to ten million horses effective. 

Three miles an hour is about the average speed of the gulf stream; 
at certain places, however, this speed is considerably increased. 

Cuvier says: “In the exact sciences at least, it is the patience of a 
sound intellect, when invincible, which truly constitutes genius.” 

U. 1.—15 225 



226 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION, 


Satellites are small members of the solar system, taking the place of 
attendants of the larger planets, by which their motions are controlled. 

On shipboard the term Binnacle is given to a wooden box or case 
containing the compass, together with a lamp and other necessary ap¬ 
paratus. 

The crow flies at the rate of but twenty-five miles per hour. The 
sparrow hawk flies six times as far, or 150 miles, in the same length 
of time. 

Rider Haggard makes a scientific error when in “King Solomon’s 
Mines” he describes a lunar eclipse taking place at the new moon instead 
of at the full. 

The Arctic whale never migrates to the southward as most species of 
whales do, because of its inability to live in the heated waters of the 
southern seas. 

The carbon of the food, mixed with the oxygen of the air, furnishes 
fuel for the body, which evolves the heat in exactly the same way that a 
fire or candle does. 

The smallest tree in Great Britain grows on the summit of Ben Lo¬ 
mond. It is the dwarf willow, which is mature when it attains the 
height of two inches. 

Lightning is zig-zag because, as it condenses the air in the immediate 
advance ofits path it flies from side to side in order to pass where there is the 
least resistance to its progress. 

Generally speaking, we say that the curvature of the earth amounts 
to about seven inches to the statute mile; it is exactly 6.99 inches, or 7.962 
inches for a geographical mile. 

The sciences that have been educed from reason are called abstract, 
those that depend on cause and effect are natural , and those assumed to 
be complete are exact sciences. 

Good clear ice, two inches thick, will bear men to walk on; four 
inches thick will bear horses and riders; six inches thick will bear horses 
and teams with moderate loads. 

The normal temperature of man is about 98.5 degrees; of the snail, 76 
degrees; oyster, 82 degrees; porpoise, 100 degrees; sheep, 104 degrees; hog, 
105 degrees; chicken, 11 degrees. 

To discover the weight of our earth, Cavendish makes it 5,480 times 
the weight of water, and the total weight to be 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,- 
000 tons (i. e. 6,000,000 trillions). 

The properties and use of the mariner’s compass were known to the 
Chinese centuries ago. It was brought to Europe in the thirteenth century, 
and first used on the Mediterranean. 

That fragile and paradoxical wonder, the “snow plant,” which is 
found in the Sierra Nevada mountains, is pronounced by western botan¬ 
ists as probably our most remarkable plant. 

One horse-power will raise f.6>£ tons per minute a height of twelve 
inches, working eight hours a day. This is about nine thousand nine 
hundred foot-tons daily, or twelve times a man’s work. 

A gray, green, or yellowish green sunset indicates rain. A red sun¬ 
set means rain. A deep blue sky means fairAveather. A growing white¬ 
ness, a storm. Unusually bright or twinkling stars mean rain. 


JOTTINGS IN SCIENCE. 


227 


Plants breathe through the “stomata," or breathing-pores in the 
leaves. In case the plant or tree is of the leafless variety the stem, which 
{s also provided with stomata, perforins the office of breathing. 

In the manufacture of air gas, steam is passed over petroleum or other 
rich mineral oil, which it volatilizes, and the resulting mixture burns 
brilliantly. The process is, however, expensive, and not much used. 

When we speak of chemical affinity we mean the tendency to combine 
with one another which is exhibited by many substances; or to the force 
by which the substances constituting a compound are held together. 

The elephant is given the credit of being the most long-lived, as well 
as the most intelligent of all animals. Cuvier says that there are in¬ 
stances of their having lived to beyond the age of three hundred years. 

Professor Barnard’s photograph of the milky way shows the exist¬ 
ence of 500,000,000 suns, each supposed to be the center of a system of 
planets, where hitherto it was thought to contain only about 20,000,000 
such suns. 

A female codfish will lay 45,000,000 eggs during a single season. 
Piscatorial authorities say that were it not for the work of the natural 
enemies of fish, they would fill all the available space in the seas, rivers 
and oceans. 

Snow appears white because it is an aggregation of an infinite num¬ 
ber of minute crystals, each reflecting all the colors of the rainbow; these 
colors, uniting before they reach the eye, cause it to appear white to every 
normal eye. 

Army worm is a name sometimes given to the grubs of a small black 
fly, very common in some European forests. In the United States the 
name is given to a voracious moth, common everywhere, which collects 
in large numbers. 

One pair of rabbits can become multiplied in four years into one 
million two hundred and fifty thousand. They were introduced in Aus¬ 
tralia a few years ago, and now that colony ships six million rabbit skins 
yearly to England. 

The nautical term “trade winds” applies to constant winds which 
blow at sea to the distance of about 30° on both sides of the equator. On 
the north of the equator they blow from the north-east, and on the south 
from the south-east. 

Lead in the form of filings, under a pressure of two thousand atmos¬ 
pheres, or thirteen tons to the square inch, becomes compressed into a 
solid block, in which it is impossible to detect the slightest vestige of 
the original grain. Under a pressure of five thousand atmospheres it 
liquefies. 

Below half a mile in depth the water of the ocean is intensely cold, 
remaining both winter and summer at a point only slightly above freez¬ 
ing. The contents of a trawl hauled up from the floor of the sea at 
the equator, will be found to include mud and ooze that is nearly 
freezing. 

Simoom (Arab, satmhn , fr. samma, he poisoned) is the designation 
of a hot, dry wind, laden with dust and sand, which prevails in Africa 
and Arabia, especially at the time of the equinoxes. It originates in the 
sand deserts of the interior. Called Sirocco in South Italy, and Solano 
in Spain. 


228 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORM A TION. 


Richard Proctor, the astronomer, said that when a novelist attempts 
to describe a scientific phenomenon, he should take care to be exact, for 
people pay more attention to the descriptions of the novel than to those 
of the scientific text-book. 

We have sixty divisions on the dials of our clocks and watches, be¬ 
cause the old Greek astronomer, Hipparchus, who lived in the second 
century before Christ, used the Babylonian system of dividing time, and 
that system being sexagesimal. 

Tin, when compressed in powder, becomes solid under a pressure of 
ten tons on the square inch, zinc at thirty-eight tons, antimony at thirty- 
eight tons, aluminum at thirty-eight tons, bismuth at thirty-eight tons, 
and copper at thirty-three tons. 

The volume of a portion of gas varies inversely as the pressure. Thus 
if we double the pressure, the gas will be reduced one-half; if we treble 
the pressure, the volume of gas will be reduced to one-third, and so on. 
This is the fact which physicists term Boyle’s Law. 

It is believed that whales often attain the age of four hundred years. 
The number of years these huge creatures have lived is ascertained by 
counting the layers of laminae forming the horny substance known as 
“whalebone.” These laminae increase yearly, just as the “growths” do 
on a tree. 

Scientists say that if the bed of the Pacific ocean could be seen it 
would disclose to view several mountains with truncated tops scattered 
over it. These mountains would be perfectly bare at their bases, and all 
around their tops they would be covered with a beautiful growth ot 
coral polypi. 

A camel has twice the carrying power of an ox; with an ordinary 
load of four hundred pounds he can travel twelve to fourteen days with¬ 
out water, going forty miles a day. Camels are fit to work at five years 
old, but their strength begins to decline at twenty-five, although they live 
usually till forty. 

Should the earth collide with another world of equal bulk, it is 
claimed the heat generated would be sufficient to melt, boil and com¬ 
pletely evaporize a mass of ice seven hundred times the bulk of both the 
colliding worlds—in other words, an ice planet one hundred and fifty 
thousand miles in diameter. 

Scientists use the term Choke-damp (also called after-damp or foul 
damp), to describe the carbonic acid gas given off by coal which ac¬ 
cumulates in coal mines, and may suffocate those exposed to it. It is 
distinguished from fire-damp, the marsh gas or light carburetted hydro¬ 
gen which causes the explosions. 

Our atmosphere which is a gaseous compound of oxygen and nitro¬ 
gen surrounding the earth, is estimated to extend for a distance of forty- 
five miles from the globe. It exerts a pressure of fifteen pounds to the 
square inch on the surface of human and other bodies, but as the pres¬ 
sure is balanced inside and out no inconvenience is felt. 

Heredity is the term applied to the transmission to the offspring of 
the characteristics, mental and physical, of the parent. Such peculiari¬ 
ties may be imparted by the mother or by the father. The study of 
heredity has in recent years been much developed by Haeckel, Herbert 
Spencer, Huxley, Darwin, Wallace, Galton, and others. 


JOTTINGS IN SCIENCE. 


229 


When starch is carefully heated to 392° (200° C.), or until vapors 
arise from it, it becomes soluble in cold and hot water, and loses its gela¬ 
tinous character; it also has the property, when viewed by polarized 
light, of turning the plane of polarization to the right; hence its name of 
dextrine. It is often used as a substitute for gum arabic. 

According to geological computation, the minimum age of the earth 
since the formation of the primitive soils is 21,000,000 years—6,700,000 
' years for the primordial formations, 6,400,000 years for the primary age, 
2,300,000 years for the secondary age, and 460,000 years for the tertiary 
age, and 100,000 since the appearance of man upon the globe. 

Cosmos is a term used to denote the order and harmony of the uni¬ 
verse. Originally used by Homer to denote “ order ” it was applied by 
Heraclitus and Anaxagoras to the divine order and arrangement of 
nature; by Plato to celestial and terrestrial order. It was further ap¬ 
plied to the habitable world and the world generally as an orderly 
system. 

In geography the basin of a river is the whole tract of country drained 
by that river. The line or boundary which separates one river-basin from 
another is called the watershed. By tracing these watersheds, the whole 
of a country or continent may be divided into a number of distinct basins; 
the basin of a lake or sea being made up of the basins of all the rivers that 
flow into it. 

In Mercator’s Projection the maps are so constructed that the lines of 
longitude are straight and not curved. This device of representing a 
globe in perspective on a flat surface is due to Edward Wright, an English¬ 
man; but the chart so arranged by Wright was printed and published by 
Gerard Mercator, a printer of maps in Flanders, who died at the age of 
eighty-two, in 1594. 

Those who use pencils should know that “black lead” is but the 
popular name for plumbago, a mineral consisting chiefly of carbon, to¬ 
gether with alumina, silica, lime, iron, etc. No lead whatever enters 
into its composition. It is employed in making pencils, to give a black 
gloss to iron grates, railings, etc., and to diminish the friction of belts, 
machinery and rifle cartridges. 

An English rainmaker operating in India has an apparatus consist¬ 
ing of a rocket capable of rising to the height of a mile, containing a 
reservoir of ether. In its descent it opens a parachute, which causes it to 
come down slowly. The ether is thrown out in a fine spray, and its ab¬ 
sorption of heat is said to lower the temperature about it sufficiently to 
condense the vapor and produce a limited shower. 

The greatest known depth of the ocean is midway between the islands 
of Tristan d’ Acunha and the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. The bottom was 
here reached at a depth of 46,236 feet, eight and three-fourths miles, ex¬ 
ceeding by more than thirteen thousand feet the height of Mt. Hercules, 
the loftiest mountain in the world. The average depth of all the oceans 
is from two thousand to three thousand fathoms. 

It is a rare thing to find a really lustrous pearl in an American oys¬ 
ter, but a great many such pearls are found in the common fresh-water 
mussel. The pearl-bearing mussel is distributed over a wide area in the 
United States, and extremely valuable mussel pearls have been found in 
New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee and several other states. An occasional 
black pearl of some value is found in the native oyster. 


230 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The Davy lamp is a form of safety lamp for use in coal mines, in¬ 
vented by Sir Humphry Davy in 1815. In it the frame is surrounded with 
fine wire gauze,on the principle that flame will not pass through the holes, 
and so does not ignite the gas surrounding the lamp. George Stephen¬ 
son invented a similar lamp, but both are now largely susperseded by the 
use of electric lights in mines. 

With the aid of the great Lick telescope the astronomers in charge 
of that institution have made the startling discovery that one of the satel¬ 
lites of Jupiter is double—in other words, that what has heretofore been 
taken for a single moon is, indeed, two moons, a large and a small one, 
the lesser slowly revolving around the greater. Hereafter it will be 
proper to speak of the “twenty-one moons of the solar system.*’ 

The word comet is derived from the Greek kome, ‘ ‘ hair, ’ ’ a title 
which had its origin in the hairy appearance often exhibited by the haze 
or luminous vapor, the presence of which is at first sight the most strik¬ 
ing characteristic of the celestial bodies called by this name. The gen¬ 
eral features of a comet are—a definite point or nucleus, a nebulous light 
surrounding the nucleus, and a luminous train preceding or following 
the nucleus. 

Nectar in flowers is not honey. This nectar is gathered by the tongue 
of the bee, and enters what is called the honey bag, from which it is re¬ 
gurgitated by the bee on its return to the hive, and deposited in the honey 
cell. Bven then it is thin and watery, and does not become really honey 
until the watery parts have evaporated. In collecting the sweets the bees 
do not confine themselves wholly to flowers. They extract them also 
from fruits. 

According to the theory of evolution, the lower animals develop into 
the higher animals, so that the larvae of Ascidians (marine molluscoid) 
developed gradually into apes, and probably apes are only one link from 
man; but hitherto no trace of that link has been discovered, unless, in¬ 
deed, it be in the Neanderthal skull found in the Rhine province of Rus¬ 
sia, which seems to be between the skull of an ape and the skull of a 
human being. 

Several meanings attach to the word Degree. (1.) The highest part 
of an unknown quantity in algebra. (2.) The three hundred and sixtieth 
part of a circle, as of the circumference of the earth, the length being 
sixty-nine and one-half miles at the equator .—Academicat 3 . A dis¬ 
tinction conferred by the various universities in recognition of proficiency 
in arts, medicine, law and science. There are three degrees: Bachelor, 
Master and Doctor. 

The theory of gravitation is the law by which all atoms of matter are 
attracted one to another with a force directly proportional to the product 
of the two masses, and inversely as the square of their distances. The 
power of gravitation was noticed and speculated upon by the Greeks, and 
Seneca noticed the attractive power of the moon over the ocean. Kepler 
investigated the subject of gravitation in 1615. Galileo ( c . 1633) demon¬ 
strated the theory of gravitation. A system of gravitation was also pro¬ 
jected by Hooke at the latter part of the seventeenth century. To Newton, 
however, is ascribed the honor of proving mathematically the truth of 
the theory in his great work the “Principia,” published 1687. Newton’s 
laws have since been carried out to great perfection in their application 
to complicated problems of astronomical and physical science. 


JOTTINGS IN SCIENCE. 


231 


Telepathy is a word coined about 1886 from the Greek to express the 
supposed power of communication between one mind and another by 
means unknown to the ordinary sense-organs. Some members of the 
Psychical Research Society believe that they have established the fact 
that such a power does exist in the material universe, and have attempted 
to turn the assumption to account in the explanation of certain unex¬ 
plained natural phenomena. 

The blowpipe is a small instrument used in the arts for glass-blow¬ 
ing and soldering metals, and in analytical chemistry and mineralogy 
for determining the nature of substances by the action of an intense and 
continuous heat. Its utility depends on the fact, that when a jet of air 
or oxygen is thrown into a flame, the rapidity of combustion is increased, 
while the effects are concentrated by diminishing the extent or space 
originally occupied by the flame. 

The analysis of the spectrum, which is an image of white light passed 
through a prism, and refracted and decomposed into various colors of 
light is what scientists mean by the term spectrum analysis. The light 
of the sun and stars has been examined by spectrum analysis, and. 
these heavenly bodies have thus been shown to contain some of the 
same elements as those which exist on the earth. Spectrum analysis 
has also been usefully employed in physiology and pathology, and for 
the discovery of metals, etc. 

One of the most wonderful discoveries in science that have been 
made, is the fact that a beam of light produces sound. A beam of sun¬ 
light is thrown through a lense on a glass vessel that contains lamp¬ 
black, colored silk or worsted, or other substances. A disk, having 
slits or openings cut in it, is made to revolve swiftly in this beam of light, 
so as to cut it up, thus making alternate flashes of light and shadow. On 
putting the ear to the glass vessel strange sounds are heard so long as the 
flashing beam is falling on the vessel. 

A term which has been occasionally abused in English popular writ¬ 
ing is biology, more especially in the absurd word electro-biology , which 
at one time threatened to take root in popular usage, and has even by 
some scientific writers been confused with general physiology, or a special 
province of it. Yet the established and only legitimate meaning of bi¬ 
ology is its literal one, that of the science of life—ie. the science which 
seeks to classify and generalize the vast and varied multitude of phenom¬ 
ena presented by and peculiar to the living world. 

The Stoics were a school of philosophers who followed immediately 
after Plato and Aristotle. It was founded by Zeno of Citium (340—260 
b. c.), who taught in the painted portico (Stoa poikile) on the north side 
of the market place at Athens. The Stoics taught that God is the soul 
of the w^orld, and that man’s supreme good consists in living in accord¬ 
ance with the perfect life of the universe. Eor two hundred years all 
the best of the Romans were Stoics. 

St. Elmo’s Fire is the popular name of an electric appearance some¬ 
times seen, especially in southern climates during thunder-storms, of a 
brush or star of light at the tops of masts, spires, or other, pointed objects. 
It is also observed at the tops of trees, on the manes of horses, and occa¬ 
sionally about human heads. It is similar in kind to the luminous glow 
seen at the point when a lightning-rod is working imperfectly, or when 
there is any very rapid production of electricity. 


232 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


In the human body there is said to be more than two million perspi¬ 
ration glands communicating with the surface by ducts, having a total 
length of some ten miles. The blood contains millions of millions of 
corpuscles, each a structure in itself. The number of rods in the retina, 
supposed to be the ultimate recipient of light, is estimated at thirty- 
million. A German scientist has calculated that the gray matter of the 
brain is built of at least six hundred million cells. 

The word Arctic means property, lying near the constellation of the 
Bear (Gr. arctos) or Ursa Major, and hence, northern. The Arctic Circle 
is a circle drawn round the North Pole, at a distance from it equal to the 
obliquity of the ecliptic, or 23y^°. The corresponding circle round the 
South Pole is the Antarctic Circle. Within each of these circles there is 
a period of the year when the sun does not set, and another when he is 
never seen, this latter period being longer the nearer to the pole. The 
word is also used figuratively to express extreme cold. 

The Ignis Fatuus (Tat. ignis , “fir e,” fatuus, “foolish'’) is a luminous 
appearance of uncertain nature which is occasionally seen in marshy 
places and churchyards. The phenomenon has been frequently described, 
but it has been observed so rarely in favorable circumstances by scientific 
men that there is no satisfactory explanation. The light usually appears 
in autumn evenings shortly after sunset; it is common in the north of 
Germany, in Italy, in the south and north west of England, and on the 
west of Scotland, but it has been noticed in many other countries. 

A device of modern science called the bottle chart is one which pur¬ 
ports to show the track of sealed bo'ttles thrown from ships into the sea 
Lieutenant Becher, an English naval officer, constructed in 1843 a chart 
of bottle-voyages in the Atlantic, so as to illustrate the currents. The 
time which elapses between the launching of the bottle from the ship 
and the finding it on shore, or picking up by some other ship, has varied 
from a few days to sixteen years; while the straight-line distance between 
the two points has varied from a few miles to five thousand miles. 

Somnambulism (Lat. somnus, “sleep,” ambulo, “I walk”) is a dis¬ 
order of sleep. It is symptomatic of more or less activity in some of the 
psychical and motor areas of the brain, while the centers that preside 
over consciousness are slumbering soundly. There are different forms 
as sleep-crying, sleep-talking (somniloquy) and sleep-walking. These 
all involve senson-motor acts. Sleep-walking is closely related to hys¬ 
teria and epilepsy, and it occasionally alternates with these and allied 
diseases. It occurs mostly in youth, affecting males and females in 
almost equal proportion; commonly, although not invariably it disan- 
pears when adult age is attained. It is met with chiefly in persons of 
nervous temperament. 


R Vienna scientist has made a series of interesting experiments with 
°£ s ^ h insects as bees and wasps, and comes to the conclusion 
that the effectiveness of the irritating substance depends largely upon 
the mood of the insect. A drop of the fluid taken from the poison bag 
of a dead hornet for instance, produces a slight itching, but nothing re¬ 
sembling the inflammation caused by a hornet sting with a much smaller 
quantity of the same virus This theory is supported by the curious fact 
that under the influence of rage the saliva of all sorts of otherwise harm¬ 
less animals can become virulent enough to produce alarming and even 
fatai symptoms Death from blood poisoning has more than once re¬ 
sulted from the bite of a wounded squirrel, a chipmunk or a caged rat 


JOTTINGS IN SCIENCE. 


233 


Alchemy, a pseudo chemistry, the precursor, iu the middle ages, of 
the modern science, had for its primary object the transmutation of 
metals into gold and silver by the discovery of a universal solvent con¬ 
taining the primary principle of all matter. This solvent, called the phi¬ 
losopher's stone , was supposed to possess the power of renewing life and 
eliminating disease. Harmes Trismegistus, an ancient Egyptian king, 
was claimed to be the founder of alchemy by the alchemists. Among its 
devotees were Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, Valentinus, Paracelsus, 
and others. 

Nocturnal creatures are generally supposed not to see well in the 
daylight, but facts collected are gradually dispelling the idea. It is well 
known that felines, which see well by night, seem to be able to see quite 
as well by day, and this is being found true of many other creatures. 
The bat sees admirably by daytime, as anyone can ascertain by threat¬ 
ening it with a twig. The owl also has first-rate day sight. Night-flying 
lepidoptera, when disturbed in their places of refuge during the day, have 
no difficulty in seeing at once where is the nearest and best place for a 
temporary refuge. 

When animals or plants are removed from their peculiar and natural 
districts to one entirely different in climate some surprising changes take 
place. As soon as possible after such removal they change their charac¬ 
ter and habits so as to conform with their new homes, or else cease to 
exist. A good wool-bearing sheep transferred from some northern past¬ 
ure to the tropics changes his coat to a thin co'vering of straggling hairs 
scarcely resembling wool; the dog becomes destitute of hair altogether, 
and even bees cease to lay up their stores of honey, and in a great meas¬ 
ure lose their industrious habits. 

We apply the term buoyancy to that quality whereby a ship, or any 
other floating body, is enabled to support a certain weight. In the case 
of a ship, it is necessary that such weight should be carried without her 
sinking too deeply in the water, or floating too lightly on it. The weight 
of a ship not loaded with any cargo, is exactly equivalent to the weight 
of the volume of water she displaces. Therefore, given a certain draught¬ 
line to which a ship is to be loaded, multiply the number of cubic feet of 
the volume of the immersed part by the weight of a cubic foot of sea¬ 
water (64 lb.), and the product will be the weight of water displaced by 
the ship at the given draught-line. If from this the weight of a ship her¬ 
self be subtracted, the residue is the amount of extra weight, or cargo 
she is capable of carrying at that draught-line, and is a measure of her 
quality of buoyancy. 

Vivisection is a term applied to experiments upon animals for the 
purpose of physiological and pathological investigation. The term, 
although strictly applicable only to cutting operations is extended so as 
to embrace all scientific operations upon living animals, such as the ad¬ 
ministration of poisons and the innoculation of disease. The anti-vivisec¬ 
tion movement commenced in 1859 with the societies for the prevention 
of cruelty to animals in Dresden and Paris. By the act of 1876, regulat¬ 
ing vivisection, vivisectors must have a license or certificate, the experi¬ 
ment must be performed in a registered place, and the animal to be 
experimented upon must be rendered insensible by an anaesthetic. In 
Great Britain, in 1880, there were thirty-three persons licensed to vivisect 
and three hundred and eleven experiments; in 1889 the numbers had 
risen to eighty-seven and 1,417. 


234 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


A planet is said to be in conjunction with another body when it has 
the same longitude, and is seen in the same direction in the heavens. It 
is obvious that in the case of the inferior planets this conjunction will be 
of two kinds: the one when the planet is between the Barth and the Sun, 
called inferior conjunction; and the other when at the opposite point of 
of its orbit, with the Sun between the planet and the Earth, called superior 
conjunction. The latter is the only kind of conjunction that can happen 
to the superior planets Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune; the 
inferior planets, Mercury and Venus, being subject to both positions. 

In many mountain ranges rent by the action of torrents, isolated 
cliffs have been left standing like monuments of former geological periods 
while the softer strata of gravel and loose rocks have been washed away, 
with the exception perhaps of a massive boulder resting, as it were, upon 
the roof of a tower-like crag. On the island of Mauritius that arrangement 
repeats itself on a marvelous scale in the mountain peak known as “Peter 
Botte” a monolith towering above the coast range to a height of more 
than 2,000 feet and supporting a rock so much broader than its pedestal 
that it gives the combination the appearance of an inverted pyramid or 
a gigantic toad-stool. 

The stars which stud the firmament have, from a time earlier than 
authentic records can trace, been formed into artificial groups, which 
have received names borrowed from fancy or fable, mainly from Greek 
mythology. These groups are called constellations. Though quite 
devoid of anything like systematic arrangement, this traditional group¬ 
ing is found a sufficiently convenient classification, and still remains the 
basis of nomenclature for the stars among astronomers. They are divided 
into northern, southern and zodiacal constellations. In old authors, 
“constellation” is used to signify the relative positions of the planets at a 
given moment. 

It is only within a few years, one might almost say months, that the 
wide effect of the warm, moist Pacific winds, called Chinooks, has been 
known in British Columbia and Alaska. These winds, corresponding 
exactly to those that make England a fertile country in the latitude of 
Labrador, keep the snow melted from the plains at the eastern base of 
the Rockies, and they encourage a magnificent growth of root crops, cab¬ 
bage, oats and grass a thousand miles north of New York. Wheat does 
not do well and berries are small, though little attempt has been made to 
cultivate fruit. The winters are biting cold, but dry, and the summer, 
though short, is so hot that vegetation comes out of the earth with a rush! 

Eureka! or rather Heureka! (“I have discovered it!”) was the excla¬ 
mation of Archimedes, the Syracusan philosopher, when he found out 
how to test the purity of Hiero’s crown. The tale is that Hiero suspected 
that a craftsman to whom he had given a certain weight of gold to make 
into a crown had alloyed the metal, and he asked Archimedes to ascertain 
if his suspicion was well founded. The philosopher, getting into his 
bath, observed that the water ran over, and it flashed into his mind that 
his body displaced its own bulk of water. Now suppose Hiero gave the 
goldsmith one pound of gold, and the crown weighed one pound, it is 
manifest that if the crown was pure gold, both ought to displace the same 
quantity of water; but they did not do so, and therefore the gold had 
been tampered with. Archimedes next immersed in water one pound 
of silver, and the difference of water displaced soon gave the clue to the 
amount of alloy introduced by the artificer. 


JOTTINGS IN SCIENCE . 


235 


The phenomenon known as the blizzard is a fierce storm of bitter, 
frosty wind with blinding snow, in which, especially in the western 
States, man and beast often perish. The word seems to be akin to blast 
and bluster and is no doubt onomatopoetic in character. The most severe 
of record is the one that visited the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota, Ne¬ 
braska, Kansas and Texas in January, 1888. Within twenty-four hours 
the thermometer fell from 74° above zero to 28° below zero in most places 
and in Dakota to 40° below. The roar of the wind drowned the voices of 
men six feet distant. Objects a few yards off became invisible. Some 
two hundred and thirty-five lives were lost. The Colorado river in Texas 
for the first time in the memory of man was covered with ice a foot thick. 

Such fierce canivorous fishes as exist in the depths of the ocean are 
unknown at the surface. There is the “black swallower,” which devours 
other finny creatures ten times as big as itself, literally climbing over its 
victim, first with one jaw and then with the other. Another species is 
nearly all mouth, and having no power of locomotion, it lives buried in 
the soft ooze at the bottom, its head alone protruding, ready to engulf 
any prey that may wander into its cavernous jaws. There is a ferocious 
kind of shark, resembling a huge eel. All of these monsters are black 
as ink. Some of them are perfectly blind, while others have enormous 
goggling eyes. No ray of sunlight ever pierces the dark unfathomed 
caves in which they dwell. Bach species is gobbled by the species next 
bigger, for there is no vegetable life to feed on. 

On metal rails a horse can draw: 

One and two-thirds times as much as on asphalt pavement. 

Three and one-third times as much as on good Belgian blocks. 

Five times as much as on ordinary Belgian blocks. 

Seven times as much as on good cobble-stone. 

Thirteen times as much as on ordinary cobble-stone. 

Twenty times as much as on an earth road. 

Forty times as much as on sand. 

A modern compilation of engineering maxims states that a horse can 
drag, as compared to what he can carry on his back, in the following 
proportions: On the worst earthen road, three times more; on a good 
macadamized road, nine; on plank, twenty-five; on a stone trackway; 
thirty-three; and on a good railway, fifty-four times as much. 

Whirlwinds occurring on the sea and other sheets of water are called 
waterspouts. When fully formed they appear as tall pillars of cloud 
stretching from the sea to the sky, whirling round their axes, and 
exhibiting the progressive movement of the whole mass precisely as 
in the case of the dust-whirl-wind. The sea at the base of the 
whirling vortices is thrown into violent commotion, resembling the 
surface of water in rapid ebullition. What are sometimes called 
“waterspouts on land” are quite distinct phenomena. They are merely 
heavy falls of rain of a very local character, and may or may not be ac¬ 
companied with whirling winds. They generally occur during thunder¬ 
storms, being quite analogous to severe hailstorms, from which they differ 
only in point of temperature, the heavy drops being probably no more 
than melted hailstones. Also all the moisture that falls is the result of 
condensation; whereas, in the true waterspout, the rain is mixed with 
spray which has been caught up from the broken waves, carried aloft by 
the ascending currents of the whirlwind, and ultimately precipitated with 
the rain. 


236 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


Hypnotism is a method for the alleged cure of disease, by the concen¬ 
trated action of the mind upon the body while in a state of trance, induced 
by causing the patient to fix his eyes and concentrate his mind upon a 
disc of bright metal held at a distance of about twelve inches above the 
level of the eyes. The first effort to investigate hypnotism in a scientific 
manner was made by James Braid, of Manchester (1846) from which cir¬ 
cumstance hypnotism is sometimes called Braidism. The power to 
hypnotize is possessed only by persons of peculiar mental organization. 
While in the hypnotized condition, which renders them insensible to pain, 
patients may be operated upon for surgical or medical purposes, the 
patient being entirely subject to the will of the hypnotizer. Hypnotism 
can, however, only be considered as of quasi medical utility, though in¬ 
vestigation is being made with the view to placing it on a sound scientific 
basis. 

The Copernican system is that which represents the sun to be at rest 
in the center of the universe, and the earth and planets to move round it 
as a center. It got its name from Copernicus, who (although some vague 
general notion of the system seem to be due to Pythagoras) first distinctly 
drew the attention of philosophers to it, and devoted his life to its dem¬ 
onstration. For the rest, the glory of developing on the lines he 
broadly laid down, belongs to Kepler, Galileo and others, and to Newton 
who finally marked out the form of modern theoretical astronomy. 
Many who reverence the name of Copernicus in connection -with this 
system, would be surprised to find, on perusing his work, how much of 
error, unsound reasoning, and happy conjecture combined to secure for 
him in all times the association of the system with his name; yet, with 
all its faults, that work marks one of the greatest steps ever taken in 
science. 

The system of philosophy known as positivism, taught by Auguste 
Comte (1799-1857), discarding the possibility of knowing the beginning 
and the end of anything, concerns itself only with what lies between. It 
accepts neither atheism, theism, nor pantheism. It may be divided into 
two parts: The historic conception and the co-ordination of the sciences. 
The former is this: That the human mind passes through three stages, 
viz., the theological, the metaphysical and the positive. In all subjects 
capable of experiment it passes from metaphysics to experimental verifi¬ 
cation or exact science. In regard to the co-ordination of the sciences 
the basis is mathematics; then follow astrononi}q physics, chemistry, 
biology and sociology. Take the last: The science of society is impossi¬ 
ble without the science of life. The science of life is impossible without 
chemistry. Chemistry presupposes physics, physics astronomy, and 
astronomy mathematics. 

If we look intently at a bright star we notice that the color and inten¬ 
sity of the light is constantly changing from brilliancy to almost total 
obscurity, and from bright red to blue, orange, yellow, etc. This is the 
phenomenon usually spoken of as the ‘ ‘twinkling’ ’ or scintillation of the 
stars. The “twinkling” will be noticed more plainly when the star is near 
the horizon, and will diminish in intensity as it rises until it is near the 
zenith, at which time the twinkling is scarcely noticeable. It must be 
confessed that this twinkling has never been explained to the satisfaction 
of all investigators. However, it is generally believed to be due to con¬ 
trolling causes within the earth’s atmosphere. That the cause may be 
looked for within the belt of air that surrounds our planet (to particles of 


JOTTINGS IN SCIENCE. 


237 


vapor, dust, etc.) may be inferred from the fact that the planets never 
exhibit the characteristic twinkling so noticeable in the star. One reason 
for this is the size (apparent) of the planets. The planets each show a 
sensible disk even to the naked eye, while the strongest instrument in 
the world only shows the stars as being mere points of light. This being 
the case, any foreign substance in the atmosphere would momentarily 
hide the light and make the star appear to “twinkle.” 

Two synonymous terms in science are Equinoxes and Equinoctial 
Points. More commonly, by the equinoxes are meant the times when 
the sun enters those points—viz. 21st March and 22d September, the 
former being called the Vernal or Spring Equinox, and the latter the 
Autumnal. When in the equinoxes, the sun, through the earth’s rotation 
on its axis, seems to describe the circle of the equator in the heavens, and 
the days and nights are of equal length all over the world. At the vernal 
equinox, the sun is passing from south to north, and in the northern 
hemisphere the days are lengthening; at the autumnal, he is passing 
from north to south, and the days are shortening. As the earth moves 
more rapidly when near the sun, or in winter, the sun’s apparent motion 
is not uniform, and it happens that he takes eight days more to pass from 
the vernal to the autumnal equinox than from the latter to the former. 
The equinoctial points are not stationary. 

Thought-reading, or mind-reading, is a term which came up in 1881 
to designate the act or art of discerning what is passing in another’s mind 
by some direct and unexplained method, depending neither on gesture, 
facial expression, nor any articulate or other voluntary indication. It 
was brought into notice (1881) by Mr. W. Irving Bishop ( d . 1889), who 
professed, while blindfolded, and without the aid of confederates, or of 
collusion with his subject whose hand and pulse he held, and with whom 
he thereby became in mesmeric sympathy, to find any article previously 
hidden by the subject, or to show in other ways that he was able to read 
the subject’s thought. The believing explanation is that thought-force, 
nervous energy, or the like, passes in a perfectly natural but as yet un¬ 
explained manner through A’s forehead into B’s hand, and so to B’s 
mind. The unbelieving theory is that A inevitably, but quite uncon¬ 
sciously, communicates a succession of slight but sufficient muscular 
indications to B, which B instinctively follows without being aware of 
them severally. Enthusiasts have sought to include thought-reading in 
the sphere of spiritualism. _ 

THE LARGEST RIVER SYSTEMS. 


RIVER. 

Area of 
Basin, 
sq. m. 

Length 

Miles. 

RIVERS. 

Area of 
Basin, 
sq. m 

Length 

Miles. 

Amazon . 

2,230,000 

3,400 

Ganges and Brahmaputra 

588,000 

1,800 

Congo. 

Nile 

1,540,000 

2,600 

Zambesi. 

570,000 

1,600 

1,290,000 

1,290,000 

1,060,000 

1,190,000 

995,000 

942,000 

880,000 

689,000 

607,000 

592,000 

3,700 

St. Lawrence. 

565,000 

2,400 

1VT icGI GCI T'vT'li 

4,100 

Winnipeg-Nelson. 

504,000 

1,500 


2,600 

3,200 

Yukon. 

433,000 

2,200 

Niger . 

Ohi 

Orinoco. 

430,000 

1,400 

T o T>1 ofo 

2,301 

2,900 

3,200 

3.200 
2,300 

2.200 

Amur . 

403,000 

2,800 

T PTl n 

Hoang-ho. 

387,000 

2.500 


Indus . 

360,000 

1,900 

Yenisei. 

Danube . 

320,000 

1,700 

Yang-tsze-kiang . 

Murray . 

300,000 

1,500 

Mackenzie . 

Volga . 








































238 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


THE ZODIAC AND ITS SIGNS. 

Zodiac was the name given by the ancients to an imaginary band 
extending round the celestial sphere, having as its mesial line the ecliptic 
or apparent path of the sun. It was fixed at about 16° in width, for the 
purpose of comprehending the paths of the sun and of the five planets 
(Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) which were then known; and 
as of these planets Mercury has by far the greatest inclination of orbit to 
the ecliptic, and the value of that element in his case is only 7° O' 9" the 
width given to the zodiac was amply sufficient for the required purpose. 


SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC. 


r 

Aries. 


« 

Taurus. 

.The Bull. 

n 

Gemini... 


£5 

Cancer. 


a 

Leo. 



Virgo. 



Libra. 


"i 

Scorpio. 


t 

Sagittarius.. 


vs 

Capricornus. 


AW 

Aquarius . 


X 

Pisces. 



FREEZING, FUSING AND BOILING POINTS. 


SUBSTANCES. 

REAUMUR. 

CENTIGRADE 

FAHRENHEIT 

Freezing— 




Bromine freezes at. 

—16° 

—20° 

— 4° 

Oil Anise. 

8 

10 

rn 

‘ Olive. 

8 

10 

OU 

50 

“ Rose. 

12 

15 

60 

Quicksilver. 

—31.5 

—39.4 

—39 

Water. 

— 1 

0 

32 

Fusing— 




Bismuth metal fuses at. 

200 

264 

507 

Cadmium. 

248.8 

315 

592 

Copper. 

874.6 

1093 

2000 

Gold. 

961 

1200 

2200 

Iodine. 

92 

115 

239 

Iron. 

1230 

1538 

2800 

Dead... 

255.5 

325 

617 

Potassium. 

46 

58 

136 

Phosphorus . 

34 

44 

111 

Silver. 

816.8 

1021 

1870 

“ Nitrate. 

159 

198* 

389 

Sodium. 

72 

90 

194 

Steel. 

1452 

1856 

3300 

Sulphur. 

72 

90 

194 

Tin. 

173 

230 

446 

Zinc.. 

328 

410 

770 

Boiling— 




Alcohol boils at. 

63 

78 

173 

Bromine. 

50 

53 

145 

Ether . 

28 

35 

95 

“ Nitrous. 

11 

14 

57 

Iodine. 

140 

175 

347 

Olive Oil. 

252 

315 

600 

Quicksilver. 

280 

350 

662 

Water. 

80 

100 

212 
























































JOTTINGS IN SCIENCE. 


239 


SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF SUBSTANCES. 

A gallon of water or wine weighs 10 lbs., and this is taken as the 
basis of the following table: 


LIQUIDS. 

Water. 100 

Sea Water. 103 

Dead Sea. 124 

Alcohol. 84 

Olive oil. 92 

Turpentine. 99 

Wine. 100 

Urine. 101 

Cider. 102 

Beer. 102 

Woman's milk. 102 

Cow’s milk.... 103 

Goat’s milk. 104 

Porter. 104 

Emerald. 277.5 

Crystal. 265.3 

Indigo. 77 

Gunpowder.'. 93 

Butter. 94 

Ice. 117 

Clav. 120 

Coal. 130 

Ebs. per 
Cub. Ft. 

Cork. 15 

Cedar. 36 

Beech . 51 

Butter. 56 

Water . 62 

Mahogany.66 

Ice. 70 


TIMBER. 

Cork. 

. 24 

Poplar. 

. 38 

Fir. 


Cedar . 

. 61 

Pear. 


Walnut. 

. 67 

Cherry. 

. 72 

Maple . 

. 75 

Ash. 


Apple . 

. 79 

Beech. 

. 85 

Mahogany.... 

. 106 

Oak. 

. 117 

Ebony. 

. 133 

PRECIOUS 

STONES. 

Diamond. 

. 353.0 

Topaz. 

. 401.1 

SUNDRIES. 

Peat. 

. 133 

Opium. 

. 134 

Honey. 

. 145 

Ivory. 

. 183 

Brick. 

. 200 

Sulphur. 

. 203 

SELECTED 

WEIGHTS. 

Oak. 

Ebs. per 
Cub. Ft. 
. 70 

Clay.. 

. 72 

Coal . 

. 80 

Brick. 

. 120 

Stone. 

. 150 

Granite. 

. 166 

Glass. 

. 172 


METALS. 


Zinc. 

. 719 

Cast iron. 


Tin. 


Bar iron. 

. 779 

Steel. 


Copper. 


Brass . 


Silver. 


Dead . 


Mercury. 

. 1,357 

Gold. 


Platina. 



Garnet. 


Ruby.. 


Porcelain. 


Stone. 

. 252 

Marble . 


Granite. 


Chalk . 


Glass .. ...... 

. 289 


Ebs. per 


Cub. Ft. 

Iron. 

.... 470 

Copper. 


Silver. 


head. 


Gold. 



THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 


NAME. 

Mean 
Distance 
From Earth 
in Millions 
of Miles. 

Mean 
Distance 
From Sun, 
Millions of 
Miles. 

Sidereal 

Period, 

Days. 

Orbit 
Velocity, 
Miles per 
Second. 

% 

Mean 

Diameter, 

Miles. 

- ■ 

Sun. 

92.9 




866,400 

3,030 

Mercury. 

56.9 

36.0 

87.969 

23 to 35 

Venus. 

25.7 

67.2 

224.701 

21.9 

7,700 

Earth. 


92.9 

365.256 

18.5 

7,918 

4,230 

Mars. 

48.6 

141.5 

686.950 

15.0 

Jupiter. 

390.4 

483.3 

4,332.58 

8.1 

86,500' 

Saturn. 

793.2 

886.0 

10,759.22 

6.0 

71,000 

Uranus. 

1,689.0 

1,781.9 

30.686.82 

4.2 

31,900 

Neptune. 

2,698.8 

2,791.6 

60.181.11 

3.4 

31,800 


The number of asteroids discovered up to present date is 330. A number of these 
small planets have not been observed since their discovery, and are practically lost. 
Consequently it is now sometimes a matter of doubt, until the elements have been com¬ 
puted, if the supposed new planet is really new, or only an old one rediscovered. 

It is supposed that a Centuri, one of the brightest stars of the Southern Hemis¬ 
phere, is the nearest of the fixed stars to the earth. The researches on its parallax by 
Henderson and Maclear gave it for its distance from the earth, in round numbers, 
20,000.000,000,000 of miles. At the inconceivably rapid rate at which light is propagated 
through space, it would require three years and three months to reach the earth from 
this star. 

























































































































240 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


SOME GREAT WATERFALLS. 

Waterfalls occur most frequently in mountainous countries, where 
the streams from the mountain sides enter the valleys. These mountain 
waterfalls, however, are generally rather curious and picturesque than 
grand, the volume of water being in most cases comparatively insignifi¬ 
cant, though the height of fall is occasionally very great. 

Among the leading waterfalls are: 


Yosemite (3 plunges).2,660 feet. 

Roravma Falls, Guiana (2 plunges). 2,000 “ 

Grand Falls, Labrador.2,000 “ 

Sutherland Falls, New Zealand (3 plunges).1,904 “ 

Kukenam Fall, Guiana (sheer plunge).1,500 “ 

Gavarnie Fall, Pyrenees . 1,380 “ 

Staubbach. 866 “ 

Kaieteur Falls, Guiana . 740 “ 

Tequendama Falls, near Bogota. 625 “ 

Victoria Falls, Zambesi. 400 “ 

Rio Iguassu, southern Brazil. 215 “ 

Shoshone. 210 “ 

Foyers, highest in Britain (2 plunges). 205 

Hay River, Alaska. 200 “ 

Niagara . 169 “ 


LIGHTNING CONDUCTORS. 

Copper is the best material for conductors. When circumstances are 
not such as to promote corrosion iron may be used, but of larger dimen¬ 
sions. Its conductivity is about one-fifth that of copper. 

Copper lightning conductors should be of the following dimensions: 

Rods y z " diameter, tubes yi" diameter, yi” thick, or bands \ l A" 
wide, 2 /$" thick. 

Iron lightning conductors should be either solid rods diameter, 
or bands 2" wide, Y%" thick. 

Lightning conductors afford protection over a circle whose radius 
equals their height from the ground; formerly considered twice. 


LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE. 


A Table showing the number of miles in degree of longitude at each 
degree of latitude. 


i,AT. 

MILES. 

1 LAT. 

| 

MILES. 

LAT. 

MILES. 

LAT. 

MILES. 

LAT. 

MILES. 

1° 

60. 

19° 

56.7 

37° 

47.9 

55° 

34.4 

73° 

17.5 

2 

60. 

20 

56.4 

38 

47.3 

56 

33.6 

74 

16.5 

3 

59.9 

21 

56.0 

39 

46.6 

57 

32.7 

75 

15.5 

4 

59.9 

22 

55.6 

40 

46.0 

58 

31.8 

76 

14.5 

5 

59.8 

23 

55.2 

41 

45.3 

59 

30.9 

77 

13.5 

6 

. 59.7 

24 

54.8 

42 

44.6 

60 

30.0 

78 

12.5 . 

7 

59 6 

25 

54.4 

43 

43.9 

61 

29.1 

79 

11.4 

8 

59.4 

26 

53.9 

41 

43.2 

62 

28.2 

80 

10.4 

9 

59.3 

27 

53.5 

45 

42.4 

63 

27.2 

81 

9 4 

10 

59.1 

28 

53.0 

46 

41.7 

64 

26.3 

82 

8.4 

11 

58.9 

29 

52.5 

47 

40 9 

65 

25.4 

83 

7.3 

13 

58.7 

30 

52.0 

48 

40.1 

66 

24.4 

81 

6 3 

13 

58.5 

31 

51.4 

49 

39.4 

67 

23.4 

85 

5.2 

14 

58.2 

32 

50.9 

50 

38.6 

68 

22.5 

86 

4.2 

15 

58.0 

33 

50.3 

51 

37.8 

69 

21.5 

87 

3 1 

16 

57.7 

b4 

49.7 

52 

36.9 

70 

20 5 

88 

2.1 

17 

57.4 

35 

49.1 

53 

36.1 

71 

19.5 

89 

1 0 

18 

57.1 

36 

48.5 

54 

35 3 

72 

18.5 

90 

0.0 












































JOTTINGS IN SCIENCE. 


241 


THE THERMOMETER. 

The thermometer is an instrument for measuring the heat or temper¬ 
ature of bodies by the regular expansion of mercury or alcohol in a 
graduated glass tube. Halley proposed the substitution of mercury for 
alcohol in 1697. The thermometers usually employed are Fahrenheit's, 
the Centigrade and Reaumur’s, the first invented in 1726, and the two 
others soon afterwards. 

The following table is interesting as a comparison of the three ther¬ 
mometers: 



Reaumur. 

Centigrade. 

Fahrenheit. 

Freezing point. 

0 

0 

32 

Vine Cultivation. 

8 

10 

50 

Cotton cultivation. 

16 

20 

68 

Hatching eggs. 

32 

40 

104 


40 

50 

122 


48 

60 

140 


56 

70 

158 


64 

80 

176 


72 

90 

194 

Water boils . 

80 

100 

212 


Ice melts at 32°; temperature of globe, H)°; blood heat, 9o°; alcohol boils, 174°; 
water boils, 212°; lead melts, 594°; heat of common fire, 1,140°; brass melts, 2,233°; iron 
melts, 3,479°. 

To convert one thermometer into another, observe the following 
rules: 

To convert Fahrenheit into Centigrade—Deduct 32°, multiply by 5 
and divide by 9. 

To Convert Fahrenheit into Reaumur—Deduct 32°, divide by 9 and 
multiply by 4. 

To convert Centigrade into Fahrenheit—Multiply by 9, divide by 5 
and add 32°. 

To convert Centigrade into Reaumur— Multiply by 4 and divide by 5. 

To convert Reaumur into Centigrade—Multiply by 5 and divide by 4. 

To convert Reaumur into Fahrenheit—Multioly by 9, divide by 4 
and add 32°. 


SUMMER HEAT IN VARIOUS LANDS. 

The following figures show the extreme summer heat in the various 
countries of the world: Bengal and the African desert, 150° Fahrenheit; 
Senegal and Guadaloupe, 130°; Persia, 125°; Calcutta and Central Amer¬ 
ica, 120°; Yuma, Arizona, 118°; Afghanistan and the Arabian desert, and 
at Umatilla, Oregon, and Poplar River, Montana, 110°; in four places in 
western and southern United States the temperature has reached 108°; 
Cape of Good Hope and Utah, 105; Greece, 104°; Arabia, 103°; Mon¬ 
treal, 103°; New York, and at twelve other places in the United States, 
102°; Spain,India, China, Jamaica, and at eleven points in the United 
States, 100°; Sierra Leone, 94°; France, Denmark, St. Petersburg, Shan¬ 
ghai, the Burman Empire, Buenos Ayres, and the Sandwich Islands, 
90°; Great Britain, Siam, and Peru, 85°; Portugal, Pekin and Natal, 80°; 
Siberia, 77°; Australia and Scotland, 75°; Italy, Venezuela and Madeira, 
73°; Prussia and New Zealand, 70°; Switzerland and Hungary, 66°; Ba¬ 
varia, Sweden, Tasmania and Moscow, 65°; Patagonia and the Falkland 
Isles, 55°; Iceland, 45°; Nova Zembla, 34°. 

U. 1—16 














242 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


HISTORIC COLD WEATHER. 

1234. Mediterranean frozen; traffic with carts. 

1420. Bosphorus frozen. 

1468. Wine at Antwerp sold in blocks. 

1658. Swedish artillery crossed the sound. 

1766. Snow knee-deep at Naples. 

1789. Fahrenheit thermometer marked 23° below zero at Frankfort, and 36° below 
at Basle. 

1809. Moscow, 48° below zero, greatest cold recorded there; mercury frozen. 

1829. Jakoutsk, Siberia, 73° below zero on the 25th of January; greatest cold on 
record. 

1846. December marked 25° below zero at Pontarlier; lowest ever marked in France. 

1864. January, Fahrenheit stood at zero in Turin; greatest cold recorded in Italy. 

Captain Parry, in his Arctic explorations, suffered for some time fifty-one degrees 
below zero Frost is diminishing in Canada with the increase of population, as shown 
by the fact that Hudson’s Bay was closed from 1828-’37, 184 days per annum, and from 
1871-’80 only 179 days per annum. _ 


EXTREME HEAT IN EUROPE. 

In 1303 and 1304 the Rhine, Loire and Seine ran dry. The heat in 
several French provinces during the summer of 1705 was equal to that of 
a glass furnace. Meat could be cooked by merely exposing it to the sun. 
Not a soul dare venture out between noon and 4 p.m. In 1718 many 
shops had to close. The theaters never opened their doors for three 
months. Not a drop of water fell during six months. In 1773 the ther¬ 
mometer rose to 118 degrees. In 1778 the heat of Bologna was so great 
that a great many people were stifled. There was not sufficient air for 
the breath, and people had to take refuge under the ground. In July, 
1793, the heat again became intolerable. Vegetables wers burned up, 
and fruit dried on the trees. The furniture and wood-work in dwelling- 
houses cracked and split up; meat, exposed, decayed in an hour. 


HORSE POWER OF STEAM ENGINES. 

The unit of nominal power for steam engines, or the usual estimate 
of dynamical effect per minute of a horse, called by engineers a ' ‘ horse 
power,” is thirty-three thousand pounds at a velocity of one foot per 
minute, or, the effect of a load of two hundred pounds raised by a horse 
for eight hours a day, at the rate of two and a half miles per hour, or 
150 pounds at the rate of 220 feet per minute. 

Rule. —Multiply the area of the piston " in square inches by the average force of 
the steam in pounds and by the velocity of the piston in feet per minute; divide the 
product by thirty-three thousand, and T 7 a of the quotient equal the effective power. 


TERMS IN ELECTRICITY. 

The technical terms used in regard to electricity refer to units of va¬ 
rious nature. Thus the unit of capacity is one farad; the unit of activity, 
one watt; the unit of work, one joule; the unit of quantity, one coulomb’; 
the unit of current, one ampere; the unit of resistance, one ohm; the unit 
of magnetic field, one gauss; the unit of pressure, one volt; the unit of 
force, one dyne. The names are mostly derived from the names of men 
that have been famous in the field of electrical research. Thus Michael 
Faraday, James Watt and James P. Joule, famous English discoverers, 
give their names to the first three units mentioned; Charles A. Coulomb 
and Andre M. Ampere, French inventors, to the two units following; G. 
S. Ohm and Carl F. Gauss, Germans, name two more units; and the Volt 
is named from the Italian discoverer, Volta. The dyne is derived from 
the root word of dynamo, itself meaning force. 





JO TTINGS IN SCIENCE. 243 

HEIGHTS OF THE PRINCIPAL MOUNTAIN PEAKS. 

ASIA. 

Everest, Himalayas... 29,002 

Dapsang-, Karakorums . 28,700 

Tagarma, Pamir. 25,800 

Khan-teugri, Tian-shan. 24,000 

AFRICA. 

Kilima-Njaro. 19,680 

Kenia. 19.000 

Ruwenzori... 18,000 

Digonyi. 14,000 

AUSTRALIA AND POLYNESIA. 

Mount Hercules, Isle of Papua. 32,763 

Charles-Douis, New Guinea. 20,000 

Mauna Koa, Hawaii. 13,805 

Mt. Cook. New Zealand. 12,349 

Kinabalu, Borneo .... 11,582 

Mt. Kosciusko, New South Wales... 7,308 


CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT FISHES. 

Following are some curious facts about fishes. While naturalists 
have generally accepted Cuvier’s view that the existence of fishes is silent, 
emotionless and joyless, recent observations tend to show that many 
fishes emit vocal sounds. The anabas scandens, the climbing perch of 
India, quits the water and wanders over banks for considerable distances, 
and is even said to climb trees and bushes. At Tranquebar, Hindoostan, 
may be seen the strange spectacle of fish and shell-fish dwelling high 
on lofty trees. The perch there climbs up tall fan-palms in pursuit of 
certain shell-fish which form his favorite food. Covered with viscid 
slime, he glides smoothly over the rough bark. Spines, which he may 
sheathe and unfold at will, serve him like hands to hang by, and with 
the aid of side fins and a powerful tail he pushes himself upward. -One 
species of fish, the sticklebacks, are known to build nests. There are 
several varieties of this fish, all natives of fresh water with one or two 
exceptions. . They are found in the Ottawa River. The cyprinodon is a 
sightless fish which gropes in the dreary waters of the Mammoth Cave of 
Kentucky. 

The blind fish are so sensitive that the sound made by the dropping 
of a grain of sand on the water will cause them to dart away beyond 
reach. _ 

THE AURORA BOREALIS. 

Northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, is the name given to the luminous 
phenomenon which is seen towards the north of the heavens by the in¬ 
habitants of the higher latitudes. During the winter of the northern 
hemisphere, the inhabitants of the arctic zone are without the light of 
che sun for months together, and their long dreary night is relieved by 
this beautiful meteor, which occurs with great frequency in those regions. 
Those who have explored the southern seas have seen the same phenom¬ 
enon in the direction of the south pole, so that the term Polar Lights 
might be more appropriate than Northern Lights to designate the aurora. 
For the phenomenon as seen in the southern hemisphere, the name aurora 
Australis is used. The appearance of the aurora borealis has been de¬ 
scribed by a great variety of observers in Northern Europe and in Amer¬ 
ica, all of whom give substantially the same account of the manner in 
which the phenomenon takes place. 


NORTH AMERICA. p eet 

Nevada de Toluca. 19,454 

Orizaba . 18,314 

Mount St. Elias. 18,010 

Mount Brown. 16,000 

SOUTH AMERICA. 

Aconcagua. 22,867 

Mercedario. 22,302 

Gualtieri. 22,000 

Huascan. 22,000 

EUROPE. 

Mont Blanc. 15,782 

Ben Nevis. 4,406 

Snowdon. . 3,571 

Carran-Tual. 3,414 

Scaw Fell Pike. 3.210 































244 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


COMMON NAMES OF CHEMICAE SUBSTANCES. 


Aqua Fortis. 

Aqua Regia. 

Blue Vitriol. 

Cream of Tartar. 

Calomel. 

Chalk. 

Salt of Tartar. 

Caustic Potassa. 

Chloroform. 

Common Salt. 

Copperas, or Green Vitriol 

Corrosive Sublimate. 

Diamond. 

Dry Alum. 

Epsom Salts ...,. 

Ethiops Mineral. 

Galena. 

Glauber’s-Salt. 

Glucose. 

Iron Pyrites. 

Jeweler’s Putty. 

King’s Yellow. 

Laughing Gas. 

Time. 

Eunar Caustic. . 

Muriate of Eime. 

Niter of Saltpeter. 

Oil of Vitriol. 

Potash. 

Realgar. 

Red Read. 

Rust of Iron. 

Salmoniac. 

Slacked Rime.. 

Soda. 

Spirits of Hartshorn. 

Spirit of Salt . 

Stucco, or Plaster of Paris. 

Sugar of Lead. 

Verdigris. 

Vermilion.. 

Vinegar.. 

Volatile Alkali. 

Water. 

White Precipitate. 

White Vitriol. 


. Nitric Acid. 

. Nitro-Muriatic Acid. 

.Sulphate of Copper. 

.Bitartrate Potassium. 

.Chloride of Mercury. 

. Carbonate Calcium. 

.Carbonate of Potassa. 

.Hydrate Potassium. 

. Chloride of Gormyle. 

.Chloride of Sodium. 

.Sulphate of Iron. 

. Bi-Chloride of Mercury. 

. Pure Carbon. 

• Sulphate Alluminum and Potassium. 
.Sulphate of Magnesia. 

.Black Sulphide of Mercury. 

.Sulphide of Lead. 

.Sulphate of Sodium. 

. Grape Sugar. 

.Bi-Sulphide Iren. 

. Oxide of Tin. 

.Sulphide of Arsenic. 

. Protoxide of Nitrogen. 

.Oxide of Calcium. 

.Nitrate of Silver. 

.Chloride of Calcium. 

.Nitrate of Potash. 

Sulphuric Acid. 

Oxide of Potassium. 

Sulphide of Arsenic. 

.Oxide of Lead. 

. Oxide of Iron. 

. Muriate of Ammonia. 

.Hydrate Calcium. 

.Oxide of Sodium. 

Ammonia. 

Hydro-Chloric, or Muriatic Acid. 
.Sulphate of Lime. 

.Acetate of Read. 

. Basic Acetate of Copper. 

.Sulphide of Mercury. 

.Acetic Acid (diluted). 

. Ammonia. ‘ 

Oxide of Hydrogen. 

. Ammoniated Mercury. 

Sulphate of Zinc. 


THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 

The nebular hypothesis, now generally accepted by scientists as ex¬ 
plaining, as far as possible by human conception, the genesis of the 
heavenly bodies, was first suggested by Herschel, and developed by 
Laplace. It assumes that the solar system was once an enormous mass of 
gaseous substance. Rapid rotation being set up in this gaseous mass, it 
took the form of a disc, and at last, centrifugal force overcoming cohe¬ 
sion, whole rings and fragments flew off from this disc, and by centripe¬ 
tal force contracted into spheroid masses. As in the original mass, the 
velocity of the outer circle of each body thrown off is greater than the 
inner circle, and this causes each spheroid to revolve on its own axis. 
This process goes on, and the central mass continues to cool and shrink^ 
until we have at last a central body with a number of smaller spheroidal 
bodies revolving around it in orbits the smaller the nearer they are to the 
central orb. Certain points are assumed in this hypothesis to explain the 
distribution of matter in our solar system. It is assumed that in the 




















































JOTTINGS IN SCIENCE. 


245 


throwing off of great masses from the central disk, immense quantities of 
minute particles were also thrown, which continued to revolve, in the 
same plane with the large mass, around the center body. By slow degrees 
these minute atoms, by the law of gravitation, were aggregated into the 
mass nearest to them. These subordinate aggregations would form with 
most difficulty nearest the large central mass, because of the superior at¬ 
tractive force of the latter, wherefore the interior planets - Mercury, 
Venus, the Earth, Mars—are smaller than the two great orbs in the zone 
beyond them. These two enormous planets, Jupiter and Saturn, occupy 
the space where conditions are most favorable to subordinate aggrega¬ 
tions, but, beyond them, the gravity of aggregating material becomes 
reduced, and so the planets found in the outer zone, Uranus and Neptune, 
are smaller than the planets of the middle zone. 


aerolites. 

B.C. 654, a shower of stone fell on the Alban Mount [Livy.) 

B.C. 467, a great stone fell at ^Egospotami, on the Hellespont ( Par¬ 
ian Chronicle). Pliny says it was about the size of a wagon. 

A.D. 1492, November 7, a ponderous stone, weighing 250 pounds, 
fell from the sky near the town of Ensisheim, in Upper Alsace. A part 
of it is still preserved in the parish church. The Emperor Maximilian 
witnessed the fall of this meteor, and had the stone placed in the church 
to prove that “God insisted on a crusade against the Turks.” 

A.D. 1510, there was a great fall of meteors in Lombardy, some sixty 
pounds in weight, and some as much as 120 pounds. They were of a 
rusty color. 

A.D. 1627, November 27, a stone weighing fifty-nine pounds fell on 
Mount Vassier, in Provence. This is attested by Gassendi. 

A.D. 1751, May 26. Two masses fell at Agram, in Sclavonia, one 
weighing sixteen pounds and the other seventy-one pounds. The analy¬ 
sis of these stones by Klaproth is preserved in the Vienna museum 
(ninety-five parts are iron, three nickel). 

A.D. 1803, April 26. A shower of stones fell near L’Aigle. M. Biot 
was deputed by the French Government to repair to the spot and report 
on the phenomenon. Between two thousand and three thousand stones 
had fallen, the largest being seventeen pounds in weight. 

A.D. 1807, March 13. A stone fell at Smolensk, in Russia, weigh¬ 
ing 160 pounds. It was black and shiny. 

A.D. 1813, September 10. A stone weighing seventeen pounds fell 
in the county of Limerick, at 10 o’clock in the morning. 

A.D. 1815, February 15. A stone weighing twenty-five pounds fell 
in the town of Dooralla, in British India. The Indians consecrated it in 
a temple, and approach it with reverence and clasped hands. 

A.D. 1822, June 2, Sunday, 3 o’clock p. m. An aerolith fell at Gis- 
lingham. Suffolk. It made a^deep hole in the earth and then bounded 
off and burst. It fell with a tremendous noise, like crashing thunder. 

In the Imperial Museum of St. Petersburg is an immense mass. The 
fall was witnessed by Pallas in Siberia. 

The largest aerolith known is one which fell in Brazil'. It is estim¬ 
ated to weigh about thirty tons. 

A.D. 1887. An aerolith fell near St. Joseph, in the West Indies. 
It weighs two tons and buried itself in the earth between fifteen and 
eighteen feet. 



246 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


HOW WE MEASURE THE EARTH. 

The circumference of the earth is measured in this way: Suppose two 
astronomers, A and B, stationed on the same meridian, a certain distance 
apart, and with accurate instruments, should make careful observations 
on a certain star at the moment it crossed the meridian; and A should 
find the star 16 degrees south of the zenith, and B, who is exactly 
415 miles south of A, should find it only 10 degrees south of the zenith; 
there would then be a difference of 6 degrees between the two places; and 
as they are 415 miles apart, one degree must be J^th of 415 or 69 y&th miles. 
Now, if one degree, which is the 360th part of the earth’s circumference, is 
69 l /e miles, the whole circumference must be 360 times 69 }4, or 24,900 
miles. _ 

WHAT IS VENTRILOQUISM? 

Ventriloquism is the art of producing tones and words -without any 
motion of the mouth, so that the hearer is induced to refer the sound to 
some other place. It does not depend on any peculiar structure of the 
organs of voice, but upon practice and dexterity. The name is founded 
upon the mistaken supposition that the voice proceeds from the belly. 
The art of the ventriloquist consists mainly in taking a deep inhalation 
of breath, and then allowing it to escape slowly; the sounds of the voice 
being modified and muffled by means of the muscles of the upper part of 
the throat and of the palate. The ventriloquist avails himself at the same 
time of means such as are employed by slight-of-hand performers to 
mislead the attention. Ventriloquism is a very ancient art; the Greeks 
ascribed it to the operation of demons, and called ventriloquists Epaast- 
rimanteis (“belly-prophets. ”) _ 

SOME FACTS IN HYDRAULICS. 

A gallon of water (U. S. standard) weighs pounds and contains 
231 cubic inches. A cubic foot of water weighs 62 x /z pounds, and con¬ 
tains 1,728 cubic inches or 7 y 2 gallons. 

Doubling the diameter of a pipe increases its capacity four times. 
Friction of liquids in pipes increases as the square of the velocity. 

The mean pressure of the atmosphere is usually estimated at 14.7 
pounds per square inch, so that with a perfect vacuum it will sustain a 
column of mercury 20.9 inches or a column of water 33.9 feet high. 

To find the pressure in pounds per square inch of a column of water, 
multiply the height of the column in feet by .434. Approximately we 
say that every foot elevation is equal to ]/z pound pressure per square 
inch; this allows for ordinary friction. 

To find the diameter of a pump cylinder to move a given quantity 
of water per minute (hundred feet of piston being the standard of speed), 
divide the number of gallons by four, then extract the square root, and 
the product w-ill be the diameter in inches of the pump cylinder. 

To find the quantity of water elevated in one minute running at one 
hundred feet of piston speed per minute: Square the diameter of the water 
cylinder in inches and multiply by four. Example: Capacity of a five- 
inch cylinder is desired. The square of the diameter (five inches) is 
twenty-five, which, multiplied by four, gives one hundred, the number of 
gallons per minute (approximately). 

To find the horse power necessary to elevate water to a given height, 
multiply the total weight of the water in pounds by the height in feet 




JOTTINGS IN SCIENCE . 


247 


atid divide the product by 33,000 (an allowance of twenty-five per cent 
should be added for water friction, and a further allowance of twenty- 
five per cent for loss in steam cylinder). 

The area of the steam piston, multiplied by the steam pressure, gives 
the total amount of pressure that can be exerted. The area of the w r ater 
piston multiplied by the pressure of water per square inch gives the re¬ 
sistance. A margin must be made between the power and the resistance 
to move the pistons at the required speed—say from twenty to forty per 
cent, according to speed and other conditions. 

To find the capacity of a cylinder in gallons. Multiplying the area 
in inches, by the length of stroke in inches, will give the total number 
of cubic inches; divide this amount by 231 (which is the Cubical contents 
of a U. S. gallon in inches), and the product is the capacity in gallons. 


GENESIS OF HELIOGRAPHY. 

As long ago as 333 years before Christ, Alexander the Great employed 
mirrors to convey signals by the light of the sun. Since the time of the 
great warrior the idea has been reduced to a science and called ‘ ‘ heliog- 
raphy.” The heliostat, an instrument invented in Holland early in 
the eighteenth century, and the heliograph, invented by Manse in 1875, 
have both been used by the British army in their eastern campaigns. 
The instruments mentioned differ somewhat in construction, but the re¬ 
sults are the same, no matter which instrument is used. In both signals 
are produced by causing a reflected ray of the sun to appear and disap¬ 
pear alternately at a distant point, the intervals of appearance and ob¬ 
scuration being carried in lengths so as to produce the combination of 
long and short signals known as the Morse alphabet. In these instru¬ 
ments the reflecting body is a glass mirror, which varies in size accord¬ 
ing to the distance to which it is desired to signal. A five-inch mirror 
has given under favorable atmospheric conditions distinct signals that 
could be read sixty miles away. The heliograph has also been found to 
be of great service in defining distant points of large surveys and was 
used to a fine advantage in verifying the arc of the meridian by the 
astronomers at the Cape of Good Hope a few years ago. 


THE ARTESIAN WELL. 

A most valuable source of water supply are the artesian wells, which 
are perpendicular borings into the ground, through which water rises 
from various depths, according to circumstances, above the surface of the 
soil. The possibility of success in a particular district depends on its 
geological structure. All rocks contain more or less water. Arenaceous 
rocks receive water mechanically, and, according to their compactness 
and purity, part with a larger or smaller proportion of it. A cubic yard 
of pure sea-sand can contain about one-third of its bulk of water. It 
would part with nearly the whole of this into a well sunk in it and regu¬ 
larly pumped from. Chalk and other rocks, composed of fine particles 
closely compacted together, contain as large a proportion of water; but 
from the power of capillary attraction little or none of this water would 
be drained into a well sunk in such rock. From the existence, however, 
of numerous crevices in chalk through which the water freely flows, 
and from the general presence of a larger quantity of water than the 
porous rock is able to retain, wells sunk in chalk often yield water. 




248 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORM A TION. 


There is yet a third class of rocks which are perfectly impervious to 
water: such are clays, which are absolutely retentive, neither allowing 
water to be obtained from them nor to pass through them. The most 
famous artesian well, perhaps, is that of Grenelle, near Paris, which 
was bored in 1833-41, and whose water is brought from the gault at a 
depth of 1,798 feet. It yields 510^ gallons of water in a minute, pro¬ 
pelled thirty-two feet above the surface; temperature, 81°*7 F. An 
artesian well bored at Pesth in 1868-79 yields, at a depth of 3,182 feet, 
water of a temperature of 165° F. In the United States numerous arte¬ 
sian wells have been sunk, some of great depth, among which are two 
in St. Uouis, Missouri, 2,197 and 3,843 }4 feet deep respectively; several 
in Chicago of from 700 to 1,200 feet in depth; one in Eouisville, Ken¬ 
tucky, 2,086 feet deep; one in Columbus, Ohio, 2,775^ feet in depth, 
with many others from 500 to 2,000 feet deep. 


THE LAST WORD ON EEECTRICITY. 

As to the question of the real nature of electricity, recent experi¬ 
ments and further knowledge of its properties rather open fresh avenues 
to new hypotheses than point to the truth of any one special theory. 
Some identify electricity with energy, some with matter, and some with 
the subtle all-pervading “ether.” At all events it has been computed 
that in every single cubic foot of ether there are locked up 10,000 foot- 
tons of energy! . The latest researches give well-founded hopes that this 
inconceivably vast storehouse of power will one day be accessible to 
man. And herein lies the splendid possibility of a new and mighty suc¬ 
cessor to the decreasing energy of our coal-fields, with the speedy ex¬ 
tinction of which alarmists threaten us. By creating in a room a pow¬ 
erful electrostatic field alternating very rapidly, Professor Nicholas Tesla 
brought it to such a state that illuminating appliances could be placed 
anywhere, and kept lighted without being electrically connected with 
anything! He suspended two sheets of metal, each connected w T ith a 
terminal of the electric coil, between which an exhausted tube, carried 
any whither, remained always luminous. A true flame can now therefore 
be produced without chemical aid —a flame yielding light and heat with¬ 
out the consumption of material or any chemical process! Further, 
these and similar experiments on electric radiation, which now advances 
so brilliantly to the forefront, by Tesla and Crookes, etc., point to the 
bewildering possibility of telegraphy without wires, without cables, 
without posts. There is considerable evidence to show that, could the 
electric ether-waves be obtained sufficiently short, the rays would fall 
within the limits of visibility, and thus place the final crown of proof 
on the magnificent experiments ot Hertz and others, who would make 
light an electric phenomenon. 

As regards the effect on the human body of alternating currents of 
very high frequency (which at best have a very doubtful reputation) it 
has been found that, as the rapidity of the alternation increases, they 
become, not more, but less dangerous. In fact, Tatum has*shown that 
their fatal effects are nearly inversely proportionate to their frequency. 
Thus, with currents alternating about 5,000 per second, the current 
needed to become fatal is about 10 times greater than at the ordinary low 
frequency of about 120 per second. With still higher frequencies used 
by Tesla (up to 20,000 per sec.) the currents are incomparably less dan¬ 
gerous than at low frequencies; but still altogether harmless. 



PLAIN LAW FOR PLAIN PEOPLE. 


The lawless science of our law'. 

That codeless myriad of precedent, 

That wilderness of single instances. 

Through which a few, by wit or fortune led. 

May beat a pathway out to wealth and fame. 

—Tennyson. 

A DEFINITION WITH A PURPOSE. 

Blackstone defines law as the rules of human action or conduct, but 
wliat is commonly understood by the term is the civil or municipal regu¬ 
lations of a nation as applied to a particular country. The forms of law 
which govern civil contracts and business intercourse are distinguished 
as statute and common. Statute law is the written law of the land, as 
enacted by State or national legislative bodies. The common law is 
grounded on the general customs of England, and includes the law of 
nature, the law of God, the principles and maxims of the law and the de¬ 
cisions of the superior courts. It overrides both the canon and the civil 
law where they go beyond or are inconsistent with it. To the man in¬ 
volved in litigation the be.st advice is to go to the bestlawyer he can find. 
But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and the purpose of 
the following pages is to furnish the ounce of prevention. Knowledge 
is power in nothing so much as in business law, especially since the law 
presumes that no man is ignorant of the law. 

BUSINESS LAW IN BRIEF. 

It is a fraud to conceal a fraud. 

Ignorance of the law excuses no one. 

A contract made on a Sunday is void. 

A contract made with a lunatic is void. 

The act of one partner binds all the others. 

An agreement without consideration is void. 

The law compels no one to do impossibilities. 

Agents are liable to their principals for errors. 

Principals are liable for the acts of their agents. 

A receipt for money paid is not legally conclusive. 

Signatures made with a lead pencil are good in law. 

The seal of a party to a written contract imports consideration. 

If no time of payment is specified in a note it is payable on demand. 

249 



250 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


An outlawed debt is revived should the debtor make a partial pay¬ 
ment. 

A check indorsed by the payee is evidence of payment in the drawer’s 
hands. 

A lease of land for a longer term than one year is void unless in 
writing. 

Notes obtained by fraud, or made by an intoxicated person, are not 
collectable. 

Each individual in a partnership is liable for the whole amount of 
the debts of the firm. 

An indorser can avoid liability by writing “without recourse” 
beneath his signature. 

A note which does not state on its face that it bears interest, will bear 
interest only after due. 

A contract made with a minor cannot be enforced against him. A 
note made by a minor is voidable. 

An indorser of a note is exempt from liability if notice of its dis¬ 
honor is not mailed or served within twenty-four hours of its non-pay¬ 
ment. 

In case of the death of the principal maker of a note the holder is 
not required to notify a surety that the note is not paid, before the settle¬ 
ment of the maker’s estate. 

If negotiable paper, pledged to a bank as security for the payment of 
a loan or debt, falls due, and the bank fails to demand payment and have 
it protested when dishonored, the bank is liable to the owner for the full 
amount of the paper. 

Sometimes the holder of paper has the right to demand payment 
before maturity; for instance, when a draft has been protested for non- 
acceptance and the proper notices served, the holder may at once proceed 
against the drawer and indorsers. * 

Negotiable paper, payable to bearer or indorsed in blank, which has 
been stolen or lost, cannot be collected by the thief or finder, but a holder 
who receives it in good faith before maturity, for value, can hold it against 
the owner’s claims at the time it was lost. 

Want of consideration—a common defense interposed to the payment 
of negotiable paper—is a good defense between the original parties to 
the paper; but after it has been transferred before maturity, to an in¬ 
nocent holder, for value, it is not a defense. 

If a note or draft is to be paid in the State where it is made, the con¬ 
tract will be governed by the laws of that State. When negotiable paper 
is payable in a State other than that in which it is made, the laws of that 
State will govern it. Marriage contracts, if valid where they are made, 
are valid everywhere. Contracts relating to personal property are gov¬ 
erned by the laws of the place where made, except those relating to real 
estate, which are governed by the laws of the place where the land is 
situated. 

AGREEMENTS AND CONTRACTS. 

A contract or agreement is where a promise is made on one side and 
assented to on the other, or where two or more persons enter into en¬ 
gagement with each other by a promise on either side. In a written 



PLAIN LA W FOR PLAIN PEOPLE. 


251 


contract assent is proved by the signature or mark. In verbal agree¬ 
ments it may be given by a word or a nod, by shaking of hands, or by a 
sign. The old saw, “Silence gives consent,” is often upheld in law. 

The conditions of a contract, as applying to individuals, are: 1. Age; 
2. Rationality; and 3, as to corporations, the possession of general or 
special statutory powers. 

Persons under age are incompetent to make contracts, except under 
certain limitations. Generally such persons are incapable of making 
binding contracts. 

As to rationality, the general principle of law is that all persons not 
rendered incompetent by personal disability, or by considerations of 
public policy, are capable of making a contract. 

Corporations have powers to make contracts strictly within the limits 
prescribed by their charters, or by special or general statute. 

The first step toward a contract is the proposition or offer, which 
may be withdrawn at any time before it is agreed to. When the proposi¬ 
tion is verbal, and no time is specified, it is not binding unless accepted 
at once. To give one the option or refusal of property at a specified 
price, is simply to give him a certain time to make up his mind whether 
he will buy the property or not. To make the option binding he 
must accept within the time named. The party giving the option has 
the right to withdraw it, and sell the property to another, at any time 
previous to its acceptance, if the offer is gratuitous, and there is no con¬ 
sideration to support it. 

If a letter of acceptance is mailed, and immediately after a letter 
withdrawing the offer is received, the contract is binding. An acceptance 
takes effect from the time it is mailed, not from the time it is received; 
it must, however, be in accordance with the original proposition, for any 
new matter introduced would constitute a new offer. When the offer is 
accepted, either verbally or in writing, it is an express assent, and is 
binding. 

A contract under a mistake of law is not void. Everybody is pre¬ 
sumed to know the law. This, however, applies only to contracts per¬ 
mitted by law aud clear of fraud. 

A refusal of an offer cannot be retracted without the consent of the 
second party. Once a proposition is refused, the matter is ended. And no 
one has the right to accept an offer except the person to whom it was made. 

The consideration is the reason or thing for which the parties bind 
themselves in the contract, and it is either a benefit to the promisor or 
an injury to the other party. Considerations are technically divided 
into valuable and good, and it sometimes happens that the consideration 
need not be expressed, but is implied. A valuable consideration is either 
money or property or service to be given, or some injury to be endured. 
A promise to marry is considered a valuable consideration. A good con¬ 
sideration means that the contract is entered into because of consanguin¬ 
ity or affection, which will support the contract when executed, but will 
not support an action to enforce an executory contract. Whether a 
consideration is sufficient or not is tested by its being a benefit to the 
promisor or an injury to the other party. If it has a legal value, it makes 
no difference how small that value may be. The promisor need not always 
be benefited, as, for instance, the indorser of a note, who is liable although 
he gets no benefit. But if a person promises to do something himself 
for which no consideration is to be received, there is no cause of action 
for breach of the contract. 


252 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


There are several causes which void contracts, first among which is 
fraud. Fraud is defined to be “ every kind of artifice employed by one per¬ 
son for the purpose of wilfully deceiving another to his injury. ” No fraud¬ 
ulent contract will stand in law or in equity. The party upon whom the 
fraud has been practiced must void the contract as soon as he discovers 
the fraud, for if he goes on after having knowledge of the fraud he can¬ 
not afterwards void it. But the one who perpetrates the fraud cannot 
plead that ground for voiding it. Contracts in restraint of trade are 
void, as also.are contracts in opposition to public policy, impeding the 
course of justice, in restraint of marriage, contrary to the insolvent acts, 
or for immoral purposes. Any violation of the essential requisites of a 
contract, or the omission of an essential requisite, will void it. 

Don’t make a contract with a person of unsound mind or under the 
influence of liquor, or otherwise under restraint of liberty, mind or 
body. Use caution in making contracts with an illiterate, blind or dea 
and dumb person, and see to it that witnesses are present. 

Don’t put a forced construction on a contract—the intent of the 
parties is a contract. 

Don’t suppose that you can withdraw a proposition made in writing 
and sent by mail after the party to whom it was made has mailed an un¬ 
conditional acceptance. 

Don’t suppose that a conditional acceptance of a proposition is 
binding on the party making the proposition. 

Don’t forget that the courts will construe a contract according to 
the law prevailing where it was made. 

Don’t forget that the law says, ‘ ‘ no consideration, no contract,” and 
that the courts will not enforce a contract which is too severe in its pro¬ 
visions. 

Don’t sign an agreement unless you have carefully weighed its pro¬ 
visions, which should all be fixed and certain. 


NOTES AND NEGOTIABLE PAPER. 

The superstructure of business as it exists today rests on the broad 
foundation of confidence—the result of what may be called the evolution 
of commerce, and the principal stages in this evolution are an interest¬ 
ing study. First there was only barter in kind, as still practiced among 
savages—for example, the exchange of a bushel of corn for a handful of 
arrow-heads. Then came the introduction of money as a medium of ex¬ 
change; and today w r e have the substitution of negotiable paper as docu¬ 
mentary evidence of indebtedness, including promissory notes, due bills, 
drafts, checks, certificates of deposit, bills of exchange, bank bills, 
treasury notes (greenbacks), and all other evidences of debt, the owner¬ 
ship of which may be transferred from one person to another. 

The mere acknowledgement of debt is not sufficient to make negotia¬ 
ble paper; the promise of payment or an order on someone to pay is in¬ 
dispensable. This promise must be for money only. The amount must 
be exactly specified. The title must be transferable. This feature must 
be visible on the face of the paper by the use of such words as “bearer” 
or ‘ ‘order. ’ ’ In some of the States peculiar phrases are ordered by statute, 

as “Payable without defalcation or discount,” or “Payable at-,” 

naming the bank or office. 

A written agreement, signed by one person, to pay another, at a fixed 
time, a stated sum of money, is a promissory note. It becomes negotia. 



PLAIN LA W FOR PLAIN PEOPLE. 


253 


ble by being made payable to an order on some one or to bearer. As it is 
a contract, a consideration is one of its essential elements. Yet, although 
it be void as between the two first parties, being negotiable and coming 
into the hands of another person who gives value for it, not knowing of 
its defect, it has full force and may be collected. 

The date is of great consequence. In computing time the day of 
date is not counted, but it is the fixed point beginning the time at the 
end of which payment must be made. Omission of the date does not de¬ 
stroy a note, but the holder must prove to the time of its making. The 
promise to pay must be precise as to time which the note is to run. It 
must be at a fixed period, or conditional upon the occurrence of some¬ 
thing certain to happen, as “at sight” “five days after sight,” “on de¬ 
mand,” “three months after date,” “ten days after the death of John 
Doe.” The time not being specified, the note is considered “payable on 
demand.” 

The maker, the person who promises and whose signature the note 
bears, must be competent. Insane people and idiots are naturally , and 
aliens, minors and married whmen may be legally, incompetent. The 
maker is responsible and binds himself to pay the amount stated on the 
note at its maturity. He need not pay it before it becomes due, but 
should he do so and neglect to cancel the note, he would be again respon¬ 
sible if any other person, without knowledge of such payment, acquired 
it for value before maturity. Even a receipt for payment from the first 
payee would not stand good against the subsequent holder. 

The payee is the person in whose favor the note is drawn—the legal 
holder, the person to whom the money must be paid. When a note is 
made payable simply to bearer, without naming the payee, any one hold¬ 
ing the note honestly may collect. 

A subsequent party, one who comes into possession of the note after 
the original holder, has a better claim than the first one, for the reason 
that between the maker and the first payee there may have been, in the 
contract, some understanding or condition militating against the pay¬ 
ment when it would become due, but the third person, knowing nothing of 
this, gives his value and receives the note. The law will always sustain 
the subsequent party. 

The indorser is held responsible if the maker fails to pay when the 
note arrives at maturity. A note payable to order must be indorsed by 
a holder upon passing it to another, and, as value has been given each 
time, the last holder will look to his next preceding one and to all the 
others. 

A note, being on deposit as collateral security, becoming due, the 
temporary holder is the payee and must collect. 

An indorsement is a writing across the back of the note, which makes 
the writer responsible for the amount of the note. There are various 
forms of indorsement: 

1. In blank , the indorser simply writing his name on the back of the 
note. 

2. General , or in full , the indorser writing above his signature, 

“Pay-” or “Pay-or order.” 

3. Qualified , the words “without recourse” being used after the 
name of the payee in the indorsement. 

4. Conditional, a condition being stated, as: “Pay-, unless 

payment forbidden before maturity.” 

5. Restrictive, as: “Pay--only.” 



254 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The blank indorsement, the full indorsement and the general in¬ 
dorsement are practically the same; each entitles the holder of the note 
to the money, and to look to the indorser for payment if the maker of 
the note defaults. It has even been held that in a general indorsement 
the holder had the right to fill in the words ‘ ‘or order’ ’ if he saw fit. 
The qualified indorsement releases the indorser from any liability in 
case the maker of the note defaults. The conditional and restrictive 
indorsement are used only in special cases. Bach indorser is severally 
and collectively liable for the whole amount of the note indorsed if it is 
dishonored, provided it is duly protested and notice given to each. The 
indorser looks to the man who indorsed it before him, and so back to 
the original maker of the note. As soon as a note is protested, it is 
vitally necessary that notice should be sent to each person interested at 
once. 

To be on THE safe side, it is well to see to it that any note offered 
for negotiation— 

Is dated correctly; 

Specifies the amount of money to be paid; 

Names the person to whom it is to be paid; 

Includes the words “or order” after the name of the payee, if it is 
desired to make the note negotiable; 

Appoints a place where the payment is to be made; 

States that the note is made “for value received;” 

And is signed by the maker or his duly authorized representative. 

In some States phrases are required in the body of the note, such as, 
“without defalcation or discount;” but, as a general thing, that fact is 
understood without the statement. 


PARTNERSHIP. 

The general rule is that every person of sound mind, and not other¬ 
wise restrained by law, may enter into a contract of partnership. 

There are several kinds of partners: 

1. Ostensible partners, or those whose names are made public as 
partners, and who in reality are such, and who take ail the benefits and 
risks. 

2. Nominal partners, or those who appear before the public as part¬ 
ners, but who have no real interest in the business. 

3. Dormant , or silent partners, or those whose names are not known 
or do not appear as partners, but who, nevertheless, have an interest in 
the business. 

4. Special , or limited partners, or those who are interested in the 
business only to the amount of the capital they have invested in it. 

5. General partners, who manage the business, while the capital, 
either in whole or in part, is supplied by a special partner or partners. 
They are liable for all the debts and contracts of the firm. 

A nominal partner renders himself liable for all the debts and con¬ 
tracts of the firm. 

A dormant partner, if it becomes known that he has an interest, 
whether creditors trusted the firm on his account or not, becomes liable 
equally with the other partners. 

The regulations concerning special or limited partnerships, in any 
particular State where recognized, are to be found in the statutes of such 
State; and strict compliance with the statutes is necessary in order to 



PLAIN LA IV POP PLAIN PEOPLE. 


255 


avoid incurring tlie responsibilities attaching to the position of general 
partner. 

A person who lends his name as a partner, or who suffers his name 
to continue in the firm after he has actually ceased to be a partner thereof, 
is still responsible to third persons as a partner. 

A partner may buy and sell partnership effects; make contracts in 
reference to the business of the firm; pay and receive money; draw and 
indorse, and accept bills and notes; and all acts of such a nature, even 
though they be upon his own private account, will bind the other part¬ 
ners, if connected with matters apparently having reference to the busi¬ 
ness of the firm, and transacted with other parties ignorant of the fact 
that such dealings are for the particular partner’s private account. The 
representation or misrepresentation of any fact made in any partnership 
transaction by one partner, or the commission of any fraud in such trans¬ 
action, will bind the entire firm, even though the other partners may 
have no connection with, or knowledge of the same. 

If a partner sign his individual name to negotiable paper, all the 
partners are bound thereby, if such paper appear on its face to be on 
partnership account. If negotiable paper of a firm be given by one 
partner on his'private account, and in the course of its circulation pass 
into the hands of a bona fide holder for value, without notice or know¬ 
ledge of the fact attending its creation, the partnership is bound thereby. 

One partner cannot bind the firm by deed, though he may by deed 
execute an ordinary release of a debt due the partnership. 

If no time be fixed in articles of copartnership for the commence¬ 
ment thereof, it is presumed to commence from the date and execution 
of the articles. If no precise period is mentioned for continuance, a 
partner may withdraw at any time, and dissolve such partnership at his 
pleasure; and even if a definite period be agreed upon, a partner may, 
by giving notice, dissolve the partnership as to all capacity of the firm 
to bind him by contracts thereafter made. The withdrawing partner 
subjects himself, however, to a claim for damages by reason of his breach 
of the covenant. 

The death of a partner dissolves the partnership, unless there be an 
express stipulation that, in such an event, the representatives of the 
deceased partner may continue the business in connection with the sur¬ 
vivors for the benefit of the widow and children. 

A partnership is dissolved by operation of law; by a voluntary and 
bona fide assignment by any partner of his interest therein; by the bank¬ 
ruptcy or death of any of the partners, or by a war between the coun¬ 
tries of which the partners are subjects. 

Immediately after a dissolution, notice of the same should be pub¬ 
lished in the papers and a special notice sent to every person who has had 
dealings with the firm. If these precautions be not taken, each partner 
will still continue liable for the acts of the others to all persons who 
have had no notice of such dissolution. 

Don’t enter into a partnership without carefully drawn articles, and 
don’t sign the articles until the partnership funds are on deposit. 

Don’t enter a firm already established unless you are willing to 
become responsible for its debts. 

Don’t do anything out of the usual run of business without the con¬ 
sent of your partners. 

Don’t mix private matters with partnership affairs, and don’t con¬ 
tinue in a partnership where trust and confidence are lacking. 


256 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION ,. 


Don’t continue a partnership after expiration of articles, and do 
not make any change without due public notice. 

Don’t dissolve a partnership without due public notice or without 
designating a member to settle all matters outstanding. 

Don’t forget that a partner may be called upon to make good part¬ 
nership losses with his individual property, and that each partner may 
be held for the acts of the other parners as well as for his own. 

AGENCY AND ATTORNEY. 

By agency is meant the substitution of one person by and for 
another, the former to transacfbusiness for the latter. An agency may be 
established by implication —an express agreement with a person that he 
is to become the agent of another not being necessary—or verbally , or 
by writing. A verbal creation of agency suffices to authorize the agent 
to make a contract even in cases where such contract must be in writing. 

Agency is of three kinds—special, general and professional. A spe¬ 
cial agency is an authority exercised for a special purpose. If a special 
agent exceed the limits of his authority, his principal is not bound by 
his acts. 

A general agency authorizes the transaction ot all business of a par¬ 
ticular kind, or growing out of a particular employment. The principal 
will be bound by the acts of a general agent, though the latter act con¬ 
trary to private instructions, provided he keep, at the same time, within 
the general limits of his authority. 

Professional agents are those licensed by the proper authority to 
transact certain kinds of business for a compensation. The following 
are among this class of agents: 1. Attorneys. 2. Brokers. 3. Factors. 

4. Auctioneers. 5. Masters of ships. 

In regard to the subject of an agency, the general rule is that what¬ 
ever a man may do in his own right he may also transact through an¬ 
other. Things of a personal nature, implying personal confidence on 
the part of the person possessing them, cannot be delegated. 

Infants, married women, lunatics, idiots, aliens, belligerents and 
persons incapable of making legal contracts cannot act as principals in 
the appointment of agents. Infants and married women may, however, 
become principals in certain cases. 

Agency may be terminated in two ways—(1) by the act of the princi¬ 
pal or agent; (2) by operation of law. In the latter case the termina¬ 
tion of the agency is effected by lapse of time, by completion of the 
subject-matter of the agency, by the extinction of the subject-matter, or 
by the insanity, bankruptcy or death of either party. 

Don’t do through another what would be illegal for you to do 
yourself. 

Don’t lose any time in repudiating illegal acts of your agent. 

Don’t make an illegal act of your agent’s your own by accepting 
the benefit thereof. 

Don’t transact business through an agent unless he can show that 
he stands in his principal’s stead in the matter in hand. 

Don’t, as agent, appoint sub-agents without the consent of your 
principal. 

Don’t go beyond your authority in an agency uless you are willing 
to become personally responsible. 

Don’t accept an agency or act as an attorney in fact in complicated 
matters unless your powers are clearly defined in writing. 



PLAIN LA [V FOR PLAIN PEOPLE . 


257 


LANDLORD AND TENANT. 

Leases for one year or less need no written agreement. Leases for 
more than a year must be in writing; if for life, signed, sealed and wit¬ 
nessed in the same manner as any other important document. 

Leases for over three years must be recorded. No particular form 
is necessary. 

If no agreement in writing for more than a year can be produced, 
the tenant holds the property from year to year at the will of the land¬ 
lord. If there is no agreement as to time, the tenant, as a rule, holds 
from year to year. 

A tenancy at will may be terminated by giving the tenant one 
month’s notice in writing, requiring him to remove from the premises 
occupied. 

A tenant is not responsible for taxes, unless it is so stated in the 
lease. 

The tenant may underlet as much of the property as he desires, 
unless it is expressly forbidden in the lease. Tenants at will cannot 
underlet. 

A married woman cannot lease her property under the common law, 
but this prohibition is removed by statute in most of the States. A hus¬ 
band cannot make a lease which will bind his wife’s property after his 
death. 

A lease made by a minor is not binding after the minor has attained 
his majority. It binds the lessee, however, unless the minor should 
release him. Should the minor receive rent after attaining his majority, 
the lease will be thereby ratified. A lease given by a guardian will not 
extend beyond the majority of the ward. 

A new lease renders void a former lease. 

In case there are no writings, the tenancy begins from the day pos¬ 
session is taken. Where there are writings and the time of commence¬ 
ment is not stated, the tenancy will be held to commence from the date 
of said writings. 

Leases on mortgaged property, whereon the mortgage was given 
prior to the lease, terminate when the mortgage is foreclosed. 

Where a tenant assigns his lease, even with the landlord’s consent, 
he will remain liable for the rent unless his lease is surrendered or can¬ 
celled. 

There are many special features of the law of landlord and tenant in 
relation to agricultural tenancy. Generally an outgoing tenant cannot 
sell or take away the manure. A tenant whose estate has terminated by 
an uncertain event which he could neither foresee nor control is en¬ 
titled to the annual crop which he sowed while his estate continued, by 
the law of emblements. He may also, in certain cases, take the emble¬ 
ments or annual profits of the land after his tenancy has ended, and, 
unless restricted by some stipulation to the contrary, may remove such 
fixtures as he has erected during his occupation for convenience, profit 
or comfort; for, in general, what a tenant has added he may remove, if 
he can do so without injury to the premises, unless he has actually built 
it in so as to make it an integral part of what was there originally. 

The following are immovable fixtures: Agricultural erections, fold- 
yard walls, cart house, barns fixed in the ground, beast house, carpenter 
shop, fuel house, pigeon house, pineries substantially fixed, wagon house, 
box borders not belonging to a gardener by trade, flowers, trees, hedges, 


U. I.—17 


258 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


ale-house bar, dressers, partitions, locks and keys, benches, affixes to 
the house, statue erected as an ornament to grounds, sun dial', chimney 
piece not ornamental, closets affixed to the house, conduits, conserva¬ 
tory, substantially affixed, doors, fruit trees if a tenant be not a nursery¬ 
man by trade, glass windows, hearths, millstones, looms substantially 
affixed to the floor of a factory, threshing machines fixed by bolts and 
screws to posts let into the ground. 

Don’t occupy premises until a written lease is in your possession, 
and don’t depend on promises of a landlord unless they are part of such 
lease. 

Don’t accept a married woman as tenant unless the law of the State 
permit her tq make an executory contract. 

Don’t think that you can legally eject sub-tenants unless you have 
given them notice of the tenant’s forfeiture of his lease. 

Don’t make such improvements in premises occupied by you as the 
law would regard as immovable fixtures, unless you are willing to turn 
them over to the landlord when your lease expires. A building erected 
on foundations sunk into the ground would become part of the realty 
and thus belong to the landlord. 

Don’t think, however, that you have no right to remove trade fix¬ 
tures erected by you. 

Don’t accept less than thirty days’ notice when you rent by the 
month. 

Don’t forget that where premises are let for illegal use the law will 
not aid you in collecting arrears for rent. 


DAW RELATING TO FARMS, ETC. 

In a deed to agricultural property the boundaries should be clearly 
determined. The question, What does the farmer get? is answered by 
these boundaries, and the deed to a farm always includes the dwelling 
houses, barns and other improvements thereon belonging to the grantor, 
even though these are not mentioned. It also conveys all the fences 
standing on the farm, but all might not think it also included the fen¬ 
cing-stuff, posts, rails, etc., which had once been used in the fence, but had 
been taken down and piled up for future use again in the same place. 
But new fencing material, just bought, and never attached to the soil, 
would not pass. So piles of hop poles, stored away, if once used on the 
land, and intended to be again so used, have been considered a part of 
it, but loose boards or scaffold poles, merely laid across the beams of a 
barn and never fastened to it, would not be, and the seller of the farm 
might take them away. Standing trees, of course, also pass as part of 
the land; so do trees blown down or cut down, and still left in the woods 
where they fell, but not if cut and corded up for sale; the wood has then 
become personal property. 

If there be any manure in the barnyard or in the compost heap on 
the field, ready for immediate use the buyer ordinarily, in the absence 
of any contrary agreement, takes that also as belonging to the farm, 
though it might not be so if the owner had previously sold it to some 
other party, and had collected it together in a heap by itself, for such an 
act might be a technical severance from the soil, and so convert real into 
personal estate; and even a lessee of a farm could take away the manure 
made on the place while he was in occupation. Growing crops also pass 
by the deed of a farm unless they are expressly reserved, and w r hen it is 



PLAIN LA W FOR PLAIN PEOPLE. 


259 


not intended to convey those it should be so stated in the deed itself; a 
mere oral agreement to that effect would not be in most States valid in 
law. Another mode is to stipulate that possession is not to be given un¬ 
til some future day, in which case the crops or manures may be removed 
before that time. 

An adjoining road is, to its middle, owned by the farmer whose laud 
is bound, unless there are reservations to the contrary in the deeds 
through which he derives title. But this ownership is subject to the 
right of the public to the use of the road. 

If a tree grows so as to come over the land of a neighbor, the latter 
may cut away the parts which so come over, for he owns his land and 
all that is above or below it. If it be a fruit tree, he may cut every 
branch or twig which comes over his land, but he cannot touch the fruit 
w hich falls to the land. The ow r ner of the tree may enter peaceably upon 
the land of the neighbor and take up the branches and fruit. 


TIEN LAWS. 

Any one who, as contractor, sub-contractor or laborer, performs 
any work, or furnishes any materials, in pursuance of, or in conformity 
with, any agreement or contract with the owner, lessee, agent or one in 
possession of the property, toward the erection, altering, improving or 
repairing of any building, shall have a lien for the value of such labor 
or materials on the building or land on wdiich it stands to the extent of 
the right, title and interest of the owner, lessee or person in possession 
at the time of the claimant’s filing his notice with the clerk of the county 
court. Such lien is called a mechanic’s lien. 

The notice should be filed within thirty days after completion of the 
work or the furnishing of the materials, and should state the residence 
! of the claimant, the amount claimed, from whom due, when due, and 
to whom due, the name of the person against whom claimed, the name 
! of the owner, lessee or person in possession of the premises, with a brief 
: description of the latter. 

Liens cease in one year after the filing of the notice, unless an action 
is begun, or the lien is continued by an order of court. 

The following classes of persons are generally entitled to liens: 1. 
Bailees, who may perform labor and services, on the thing bailed, at the 
request of the bailor. 2. Innkeepers, upon the baggage of guests they 
have accommodated. 3. Common carriers, upon goods carried, for the 
amount of their freight and disbursements. 4. Vendors, on the goods 
sold for payment of the price where no credit has been expressly prom¬ 
ised or implied. 5. Agents, upon goods of their principals, for advance¬ 
ments for the benefit of the latter. 6. All persons are entitled to the 
right of lien who are compelled by law to receive property and bestow 
labor or expense on the same. 

The right of lien may be waived: 1. By express contract. 2. By 
neglect. 3. By new agreement. 4. By allowing change of possession. 
5. By surrendering possession. 

The manner of the enforcement of a lien, wdiether it be an innkeep¬ 
er’s, agent’s, carrier’s, factor’s, etc., depends wholly upon the nature and 
character of the lien. 

Don’t purchase real estate unless the records have been thoroughly 
searched for all liens known to the law, or until all notices of action 
against the same have been discharged. 






260 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Don’t think that you have no right to sell perishable property on 
which you have a lien. Your lien will attach to the proceeds. 

Don’t foreclose a lien without proper notice. 

Don’t make payments to a contractor before you have full knowl¬ 
edge of all liens filed. 

Don’t forget that liens take precedence according to priority, and 
that interest always runs on a judgment. 


DEEDS—TRANSFER OF PROPERTY. 

A deed is a writing by which lands, tenements or hereditaments are 
conveyed, sealed and delivered. It must be written or printed on parch- 1 
ment or paper; the parties must be competent to contract; there must be 
a proper object to grant; a sufficient consideration; an agreement prop¬ 
erly declared; if desired, it must have been read to the party executing 
it; it must be signed and sealed; attested by witnesses, in the absence of 
any statute regulation to the contrary, properly acknowledged before 
a competent officer; and recorded within the time and in the office pre¬ 
scribed by the State within executed. 

The maker of a deed is th e grantor \ the party to whom it is delivered 
the grantee. If the grantor have a wife, she must, in the absence of a 
statute to the contrary, sign and acknowledge the deed; otherwise, after 
the husband’s death, .she may claim the use of one-third, during her 
life. 

By a general warranty deed the grantor covenants to insure the lands 
against all persons whatsoever; by a special warranty deed he warrants 
only against himself and those claiming under him. In deeds made by 
executors, administrators or guardians there is generally no warranty 
A quit-claim deed releases all the interest which the grantor has in the 
land, whatever it may be. 

A deed of trust is given to a person called a trustee, to hold in fee 
simple, or otherwise, for the use of some other person who is entitled to 
the proceeds, profits or use. 

A deed may be made void by alterations made in it after its execu¬ 
tion; by the disagreement of the parties whose concurrence is necessary; 
or by the judgment of a competent tribunal. 

Interlineations or erasures in a deed, made before signing, should be 
mentioned in a note, and witnessed in proper form. After the acknowl¬ 
edgement of a deed the parties have no right to make the slightest alter¬ 
ation. An alteration of a deed after execution, if made in favor of the 
grantee, vitiates the deed. If altered before delivery, such alteration de¬ 
stroys the deed as to the party altering it. 

Abstracts of titles are brief accounts of all the deeds upon which 
titles rest, and judgments and instruments affecting such titles. 

The evidences of title are usually conveyances, wills, orders or de¬ 
crees of courts, judgments, judicial sales, sales by officers appointed by 
law, acts of the Legislature and of Congress. 

Don’t accept a deed unless all the following conditions are complied 
with: 1. It must be signed, sealed and witnessed. 2. Interlineations 
must be mentioned in the certificate of acknowledgement. 3. All the 
partners must join in a deed from a partnership. 4. A deed from a cor¬ 
poration should bear the corporate seal and be signed by officers desig¬ 
nated in the resolution of the directors authorizing it. 5. A deed from 
a married woman should be joined in by the husband. 6. A deed from 



PLA/JV LA W FOR PLAIN PEOPLE. 


261 


an executor should recite his power of sale. 7. The consideration must 
be expressed. 

Don’t deed property to your wife direct. A deed to your wife does 
not cut off obligations contracted previously. 

Don’t pay consideration money on a conveyance of real estate until 
the record has been searched to the moment of passing title, and unless 
you know of your own knowledge that no judgments, mortgages or tax 
liens are outstanding against the property. 

Don’t delay in having a deed or mortgage recorded. 

Don’t attempt to give a better title than you have yourself. 


MORTGAGES. 

A mortgage is a conveyance of property, either real or personal, to 
secure payment of a debt. When the debt is paid the mortgage becomes 
void and of no value. In real estate mortgages the person giving the 
mortgage retains possession of the property, receives all the debts and 
other profits, and pays all taxes and other expenses. The instrument 
must be acknowledged, like a deed, before a proper public officer, and re¬ 
corded in the office of the county clerk or recorder, or whatever officer’s 
duty it is to record such instruments. All mortgages must contain a 
redemption clause, and must be signed and sealed. The time when the 
debt becomes due, to secure which the mortgage is given, must be plainly 
set forth and the property conveyed must be clearly described, located 
and scheduled. 

Some mortgages contain a clause permitting the sale of the property 
without decree of court when a default is made in the payment either of 
the principal sum or the interest. 

A foreclosure is a statement that the property is forfeited and must 
be sold. 

When a mortgage is assigned to another person, it must be for a val¬ 
uable consideration; and the note or notes which it was given to secure 
must be given at the same time. 

If the mortgaged property, when foreclosed and brought to sale, 
brings more money than is needed to satisfy the debt, interest and costs, 
the surplus must be paid to the mortgagor. 

Satisfaction of mortgages upon real or personal property may be 
either— 

1. By an entry upon the margin of the record thereof, signed by the 
mortgagee or his attorney, assignee or personal representative, acknowl¬ 
edging the satisfaction of the mortgage, in the presence of the recording 
officer; or— 

2. By a receipt endorsed upon the mortgage, signed by the mortgagee, 
his agent or attorney, which receipt may be entered upon the margin of 

the record; or— . 

3. It may be discharged upon the record thereof whenever there is 
presented to the proper officer an instrument acknowledging the satis¬ 
faction of such mortgage, executed by the mortgagee, his duly author¬ 
ized attorney in fact, assignee or personal representative, and acknowl¬ 
edged in the same manner as other instruments affecting real estate. 

Chattel mortgages are mortgages on personal property. Most of 
the rules applicable to mortgages on real estate apply also to those on 
personal property, though in some States there are laws regulating per¬ 
sonal mortgages. Any instrument will answer the purpose of a chattel 



262 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORM A TION 


mortgage which would answer as a bill of sale, with a clause attached 
providing for the avoidance of the mortgage when the debt is paid. 

A chattel mortgage will not cover property subsequently acquired 
by the mortgagor. Mortgages of personal property should contain a 
clause providing for the equity of redemption. A mortgagee may sell 
or transfer his mortgage to another party for a consideration, but such 
property cannot be seized or sold until the expiration of the period for 
which the mortgage was given. Mortgages given with intent to defraud 
creditors are void. 

Don’t lose any time in having a mortgage properly recorded. 

Don’t pay installments on chattel mortgages unless the same are en¬ 
dorsed thereon. 

Don’t lose sight of the fact that a chattel mortgage is a conditional 
bill of sale. 

Don’t accept a chattel mortgage the term whereof is for more than 
a year. 

Don’t neglect to have a chattel mortgage signed, sealed and wit¬ 
nessed, and don’t fail to see to it that the schedule contains every article 
embraced under it. 

Don’t fail to see to it that goods or chattels mortgaged to you are 
properly insured. 

Don’t suppose that a chattel mortgage is valid when the debt to be 
secured by it is not. 

Don’t give a chattel mortgage payable on demand unless you are 
prepared to forfeit the chattels at any moment. 

Don’t think that the destruction by fire or otherwise of the chattels 
mortgaged wipes out the debt. 

Don’t forget that foreclosure in the case of a chattel mortgage is 
unnecessary except to cut off the claims of other creditors. 


ASSIGNMENTS. 

An assignment is a transfer of property made in writing. In effect it 
is passing to another person all of one’s title or interest in any sort of 
real or personal property, rights, actions or estates. However, some 
things are not assignable; an officer’s pay or commission, a judge’s sal¬ 
ary, fishing claims, Government bounties, or claims arising out of frauds 
or torts. Personal trusts cannot be assigned, as a guardianship or the 
right of a master in his apprentice. 

Unlike many other legal devices the holder of an assignment is not 
bound to show that a valuable consideration was given. The owner of 
a cause of action may give it away if he pleases, and in the positive ab¬ 
sence of evidence to the contrary the court will presume that the assign¬ 
ment was for a sufficient consideration. 

Proof will be called for only when it appears that the assignment 
was a mere sham or fraudulent. No formality is required by law in an 
assignment. Any instrument between the contracting parties which 
goes to show their intention to pass the property from one to another 
will be sufficient. It may be proved, for instance, by the payee of a 
note, that he indorsed (or delivered without indorsement) the note to 
the assignee, and this is sufficient evidence of assignment. 

In every assignment of an instrument, even not negotiable, the assig¬ 
nee impliedly warrants the validity of the instrument and the obligation 
of the third party to pay it. He warrants that there is no legal defense 



PLAIN LA W FOR PLAIN PEOPLE . 


26a 


against its collection arising out of his connection with the parties; that 
all parties were legally able to contract, and that the amount is unpaid. 

An assignment carries with it all the collateral securities and guar¬ 
antees of the original debt, even though they are not mentioned in the 
instrument. 

Where property is assigned for the benefit of creditors, its actual 
transfer to the assignee must be made immediately. When an assign¬ 
ment is made under the common law, the assignor may prefer certain 
creditors; but in a state where this sort of an assignment is governed by 
statute, no preference can be shown. An assignment for the benefit of 
creditors covers all of the assignor’s property, wherever or whatever it 
it may be, that is not exempt from execution. 

When insured property is sold the insurance policy should be as¬ 
signed. This can only be done with the consent of the insurer, and that 
consent must be at once obtained. 

Correct schedules of the property assigned should accompany and be 
attached to every assignment. 

INNS, HOTELS AND BOARDING-HOUSES. 

An inn, or hotel, is a place of entertainment for travelers. If an 
innkeeper opens his house for travelers, it is an implied engagement to 
entertain all persons who travel that way, and upon this universal assump¬ 
tion an action will lie against him for damages if he, without good rea¬ 
son, refuses to admit a traveler. 

Innkeepers are responsible for the safe custody of the goods of their 
guests, and can limit their liability only by an express agreement or 
special contract with their guests; but if goods are lost through negligence 
of the owner himself the innkeeper’s liability ceases. An innkeeper 
may retain the goods of his guest until the amount of the guest’s bill has 
been paid. 

A boarding-house is not an inn, nor is a coffee-house or eating-room. 
A boarding-house keeper has no lien on the goods of a boarder except by 
special agreement, nor is he responsible for their safe custody. He is 
liable, however, for loss caused by the negligence of his servants. An 
innkeeper is liable for loss without such negligence. 

BONDS. 

A written instrument admitting an obligation on the part of the 
maker to pay a certain sum of money to another specified person at a 
fixed time, for a valuable consideration, is called a bond. The obligor 
is the one giving the bond; the beneficiary is called the obligee. This 
definition applies to all bonds, but generally these instruments are given 
to guarantee the performance or non-performance of certain acts by the 
obligor, which being done or left undone, as the case may be, the bond 
becomes void, but if the conditions are broken it remains in full force. 
As a rule, the bond is made out for a sum twice the amount of any debt 
which is apt to be incurred by the obligor under its conditions, the state¬ 
ment being set forth that the sum named is the penalty, as liquidated or 
settled damages, in the event of the failure of the obligor to carry out the 
conditions. 

An act of Providence, whereby the accomplishment of a bond is ren¬ 
dered impossible, relieves the obligor of all liability. 

A bond for the payment of money differs from a promissory note 
only in having a seal. 




264 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION 


BILLS OF SALE. 

A bill of sale is a formal written conveyance of personal property. 
If the property is delivered when sold, or if part of the purchase money 
is paid, a written instrument is not necessary to make the conveyance, 
but it is convenient evidence of the transfer of title. But, to protect the 
interests of the purchaser against the creditors of the seller, the bill is 
not sufficient of itself; there should also be a delivery of the property. 
If an actual and continued change of possession does not accompany the 
sale it is void as against the creditors of the seller and subsequent pur¬ 
chasers and mortgagees in good faith, unless the buyer can show that 
his purchase was made in good faith, without intent to defraud, and that 
there was some good reason for leaving the property in the hands of the 
seller. 


CORPORATIONS. 

Several persons joining together for the accomplishment of any 
business or social purpose can legally organize themselves into a corpo¬ 
ration, a form of partnership which combines the resources of all, and 
yet gives a limited pecuniary liability, amounting only to the amount 
of stock owned by each stockholder. In the States the legislature of 
each Commonwealth enjoys the power of regulating the corporations, 
and in the Territories this power is, of course, vested in the General 
Government. The actual cost of organization amounts to something 
less than $10, most of which is in fees to the Secretary of State. When 
the stock has been subscribed, a meeting is called and each shareholder 
casts a vote for every share which he owns or holds a proxy for, for each 
person who is to be elected director, or he may give one director as 
many votes as the number of shares he is voting, multiplied by the num¬ 
ber of directors to be elected, amounts to, or distribute his votes as he 
chooses. Thus, if he owns ten shares of stock and there are six direct¬ 
ors to be elected, he has sixty votes, which he can give, either ten for 
each director, or twenty for each of three, or sixty for one, or in any 
other way that he sees fit, so that his whole vote will not be more than 
sixty votes. These directors meet as soon after the election as possible 
and choose a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer, where¬ 
upon the corporation is ready for business. 

The law in all the States on the subject of incorporating companies 
is very similar, and the necessary forms are to be obtained usually from 
the Secretary of State. 

LAW OF FINDING. 

The general rule is that the finder has a clear title against every one 
but the owner. The proprietor of a hotel or a shop has no right to de¬ 
mand property of others found on his premises. Such proprietor may 
make regulations in regard to lost property which will bind their em¬ 
ployes, but they cannot bind the public. The finder has been held to 
stand in the place of the owner, so that he was permitted to prevail in an 
action against a person who found an article which the plaintiff had 
originally found, but subsequently lost. The police have no special 
rights in regard to articles lost, unless those rights are conferred by 
statute. Receivers of articles found are trustees for the owner or finder. 
They have no power to keep an article against the finder, any more 
than the finder has to retain an article against the owner. 




PLAIN LA W FOR PLAIN PRO PL R. 


265 


WILLS AND HOW TO MAKE THEM. 

Every description of property, whether real or personal, may be 
given by will. In the case of persons dying owing debts, however, the 
law gives to the executors sufficient of the personal property of the 
deceased to pay off all existing indebtedness, irrespective of the terms 
of the will; and where the personal property is not sufficient for this 
purpose, real property may be so appropriated. 

Property may be bequeathed by will to all persons, including mar¬ 
ried women, infants, lunatics, idiots, etc. 

Wills may be made by any person not disqualified by age or mental 
incapacity. Generally speaking, a person must have attained the age of 
twenty-one years before he or she can make a valid will of lands, and 
the same age in many States is required for a will of solely personal 
property. 

In New York males of eighteen and females of sixteen are compe¬ 
tent to bequeath personal property. ‘ ‘ Sound and disposing mind and 
memory” are always essential to the validity of any will. For this rea¬ 
son idiots, lunatics, intoxicated persons (during intoxication) and per¬ 
sons of unsound or weak minds are incompetent to make wills. A will 
procured by fraud is also invalid, although the testator be fully compe¬ 
tent to make a valid will. All wills must be in writing, except those 
made by soldiers in active service during war'and by sailors while at sea. 
Such persons may make a verbal or nuncupative will, under certain 
restrictions as to witnesses, etc. No particular form of words is required. 

A valid will must be subscribed or signed by the testator or some 
one for him, in his presence and at his request. The signature must be 
affixed in the presence of each of the witnesses. In case the will be 
signed by some one for him, the testator must acknowledge the signature 
to be his own in presence of the witnesses. The testator must declare to 
each of the subscribing witnesses that the instrument is his “last will 
and testament.” This is of the utmost importance, and is called the 
“publication.” There must be at least two (three are required in some 
of the States) subscribing witnesses, who must act as such at the testa¬ 
tor’s request, or at the request of some one in his presence. The sub¬ 
scribing witnesses must not be beneficially interested in the provisions 
of the will. These witnesses must all sign the will in the presence of 
the testator, and (in New York and some of the other States) in the 
presence of each other. 

A codicil is an appendix annexed to the will after its execution, 
whereby the testator makes some change in, or addition to, his former 
disposition, and must be signed, published and attested in the same 
manner as the original will. 

The revocation of a will may be express or implied—express, by the 
execution of a new and later will, or by the intentional destruction of 
the old one, or by a formal written revocation, signed and witnessed in 
the same manner as the will itself. An implied revocation is wrought 
by the subsequent marriage of the testator and the birth of children, or 
by either. 

Don’t leave anything uncertain in a will, and don’t neglect to de¬ 
clare it to be your last will and testament. 

Don’t make a will without two (better three) witnesses, none of 
whom must be interested in it. See that each witness writes his full 
name and address. 


266 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Don’t make a new will unless you destroy or revoke the old one, 
and don’t add a codicil unless it is executed in the same way as the orig¬ 
inal will. 

Don’t neglect to make a new will if you mortgage or sell property 
devised or bequeathed in a prior one. 

Don’t make a will which does not provide for children that may be 
born. 

Don’t will property to a corporation whose charter does not permit 
it to take by devise or bequest. . 

Don’t fail to say “bequeath” for personal and “devise” for real 
property. 

THE RIGHT OF DOWER. 

Dower is one-third part of the husband’s estate, and in general can¬ 
not be destroyed by the mere act of the husband. Hence, in the sale of 
real estate by the husband, his wife must, with the husband, sign the 
conveyance to make the title complete to the purchaser. In the absence 
of such signature the widow can claim full dower rights after the hus¬ 
band’s death. Creditors, also, seize the property subject to such dowery 
rights. 

The husband in his will sometimes gives his wife property in lieu of 
dowery. In this case she may, after his death, elect to take either such 
property or her dower, but she cannot take both. While the husband 
lives the wife’s right of dower is only inchoate; it cannot be enforced. 
Should he sell the land to a stranger, she has no right of action or rem¬ 
edy until his death. 

In all cases the law of the State in which the land is situated governs 
it, and, as in the case of heirship, full information must be sought for in 
statute which is applicable. 

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 

Marriage may be entered into by any two persons, with the following 
exceptions: Idiots, lunatics, persons of unsound mind, persons related 
by blood or affinity within certain degrees prohibited by law, infants 
under the age of consent, which varies* in the different States, and all 
persons already married and not legally divorced. 

The violation of the marriage vow is cause for absolute divorce in all the States 
and Territories except South Carolina and New Mexico, which have no divorce laws. 

Physical inability is a cause in all the States except California, Connecticut, Dakota, 
Iowa, Louisiana, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina, Texas and Vermont. In 
most of these States it renders marriage voidable. 

Willful desertion, one year, in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Dakota, Florida, 
Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wisconsin, Washington 
and Wyoming. 

\Yillful desertion, two years, in Alabama, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michi¬ 
gan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. 

Willful desertion, three years, in Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Mary¬ 
land, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, 
Vermont and West Virginia. 

Willful desertion, five years, in Virginia and Rhode Island, though the court may 
in the latter State decree a divorce for a shorter period. 

Habitual drunkenness, in all the States and Territories except Maryland, New Jer¬ 
sey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Vir¬ 
ginia and West Virginia. 

“ Imprisonment for felony,” or “conviction of felony,” in all the States and Terri¬ 
tories (with limitations) except Dakota, Florida, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New 
Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Utah. * 

Fraud and fraudulent contract, in Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, 
Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington. 




PLAIN LA W FOR PLAIN PEOPLE. 


267 


“Cruel and abusive treatment,” “intolerable cruelty,” “extremecruelty,” “repeated 
cruelty,” or “ inhuman treatment,” in all the States and Territories except New Jersey, 
New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. 

Failure by the husband to provide: One year in California, Colorado, Dakota, Ne¬ 
vada and Wyoming; two years in Indiana and Idaho; no time specified in Arizona, 
Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, Maine, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wis¬ 
consin; willful neglect for three years, in Delaware. 

Absence without being heard from- Three years in New Hampshire; seven years 
in Connecticut and Vermont, separation five years, in Kentucky; voluntary separation 
five years, in Wisconsin; when reasonably presumed dead by the court, in Rhode 
Island. 

“Ungovernable temper,” in Kentucky; “habitual indulgence in violent and 
ungovernable temper,” in Florida; “cruel treatment, outrages or excesses as to ren¬ 
der their living together insupportable,” in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, 
Tennessee and Texas; “ indignities as render life burdensome,” in Missouri, Oregon, 
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington and Wyoming. 

In Georgia an absolute divorce is granted only after the concurrent verdict of two 
juries at different terms of the court. In New York absolute divorce is granted for but 
one cause, adultery. 

All of the causes above enumerated are for absolute or full divorce, 
and collusion and connivance are especially barred, and also condona¬ 
tion of violation of the marriage vow. 

The courts of every State, and particularly of New York, are very 
jealous of their jurisdiction and generally refuse to recognize as valid a 
divorce against one of the citizens of the State by the court of another 
State, unless both parties to the suit were subject at the same time to 
the jurisdiction of the court granting the divorce. 

Previous Residence Required. —Dakota, ninety days; California, 
Indiana, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming, 
six months; Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kan¬ 
sas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri, 
Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont 
(both parties as husband and wife), West Virginia, Washington and Wis¬ 
consin, one year; Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Rhode Island and 
Tennessee, two years; Connecticut and Massachusetts (if, when married, 
both parties were residents, otherwise five years), three years. 

Remarriage. —There are no restrictions upon remarriage by di¬ 
vorced persons in Connecticut, Kentucky, Illinois and Minnesota. De¬ 
fendant must wait two years and obtain permission from the court in 
Massachusetts. The decree of the court may restrain the guilty party 
from remarrying in Virginia. Parties cannot remarry until after two 
years, except by permission of the court, in Maine. In New York the 
plaintiff may remarry, but the defendant cannot do so during the plaint¬ 
iffs lifetime, unless the decree be modified or proof that five years have 
elapsed, and that complainant has married again and defendant’s con¬ 
duct • has been uniformly good. Any violation of this is punished as 
bigamy, even though the other party has been married. In Delaware, 
Pennsylvania and Tennessee no wife or husband divorced for violation 
of the marriage vow can marry the particeps criminis during the life of 
the former husband or wife, nor in Louisiana at any time; such marri¬ 
age in Louisiana renders the person divorced guilty of bigamy. 


RIGHTS OF MARRIED WOMEN. 

Any and all property which a woman owns at her marriage, together 
with the rents, issues and profits thereof, and the property that comes to 
her by descent, devise, bequest, gift or grant, or which she acquires by 
her trade, business, labor, or services performed on her separate account, 
shall, notwithstanding her marriage, remain her sole and separate prop- 



268 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


erty, and may be used, collected and invested by her in her own name, 
and shall not be subject to the interference or control of her husband, or 
be liable for his debts, unless for such debts as may have been contracted 
for the support of herself or children by her as his agent. 

A married woman may likewise bargain, sell, assign, transfer and 
convey such property, and enter into contracts regarding the same on her 
separate trade, labor or business with the like effect as if she were un¬ 
married. Her husband, however, is not liable for such contracts, and 
they do not render him or his property in any way liable therefor. She 
may also sue and be sued in all matters having relation to her sole and 
separate property in the same manner as if she were sole. 

In the following cases a married woman’s contract may be enforced 
against her and her separate estate: 1. When the contract is created in 
or respecting the carrying on of the trade or business of the wife. 2. 
When it relates to or is made for the benefit of her sole or separate estate. 
3. When the intention to charge the separate estate is expressed in the 
contract creating the liability. 

When a husband receives a principle sum of money belonging to his 
wife, the law presumes he receives it for her use, and he must account for 
it, or expend it on her account by her authority or direction, or that she 
gave it to him as a gift. 

If he receives interest or income and spends it with her knowdedge 
and without objection, a gift will be presumed from acquiescence. 

Money received by a husband from his wife and expended by him, 
under her direction, on his land, in improving the home of the family, 
is a gift, and cannot be recovered by the wife, or reclaimed, or an account 
demanded. 

An appropriation by a wife, herself, of her separate property to the 
use and benefit of her husband, in the absence of an agreement to repay, 
or any circumstance from which such an agreement can be inferred, wall 
not create the relation of debtor and creditor, nor render the husband 
liable to account. 

A wife who causelessly deserts her husband is not entitled to the aid 
of a court of equity in getting possession of such chattels as she has con¬ 
tributed to the furnishing and adornment of her husband’s house. Her 
legal title remains, and she could convey her interest to a third party by 
sale, and said party would have a good title, unless her husband should 
prove a gift. 

Wife’s property is not liable to a lien of a sub-contractor for materials 
furnished to the husband for the erection of a building thereon, where it 
is not shown that the wife was notified of the intention to furnish the 
materials, or a settlement made with the contractor and given to the wife, 
her agent or trustee. 

The common law of the United States has some curious provisions 
regarding the rights of married women, though in all the States there are 
statutory provisions essentially modifying this law. As it now stands 
the husband is responsible for necessaries supplied to the wife even 
should he not fail to supply them himself,and is held liable if he turn her 
from his house, or otherwise separate himself from her without good 
cause. He is not held liable if the wife deserts him, or if he turns her 
away for good cause. If she leaves him through good cause, then he is 
liable. If a man lives with a woman as his wife, and so represents her, 
even though this representation is made to one who knows she is not, he 
is liable the same way as if she were his wife. 


POLITICS AND STATECRAFT. 


A politician, Proteus-like, must alter 
His face and habit; and like water, seem 
Of the same color that the vessel is 
That doth contain it, varying his form 
With the chameleon, at each obiect’s change. 

—Mason. 

DEFINITIONS AND DETAILS. 

The Abolition party was born in 1829. 

Poll tax was known in England, A.D. 1380. 

The London Reform Club was established in 1836. 

A political lampoon was formerly termed a pasquinade. 

A close corporation is that which fills its own vacancies. 

The first French National Assembly was convened in 1789. 

There are 670 members in the British House of Commons. 

“Pairing oft” was first practiced in this country in 1839. 
Alderman w T as a Saxon office and simply means elder-man. 

The first journals of Congress date from September, 1774. 

The English local option law is termed the Permissive Bill. 

In Germany the Reichsrath is the council of the whole Empire. 

It was Abe Lincoln who termed thefreedmen “wards of the nation. ’’ 
Stephen A. Douglas was the Little Giant of our political history. 
The name “Old Hickory” was given to Andrew Jackson in 1813. 
The Indian Territory was set apart in 1832; Oklahoma subtracted 
1889. 

The familiar letters “O. K.” were a party cry in the campaign of 
1828. 

The parliamentary motion of closure is “that the question be now 
put.” 

R. B. Hayes said: “He serves his party best who serves the country 
best.” 

Sheriff is derived from shire-reeve , the chief magistrate of a shire or 

county. 

In 1796 Mr. C. C. Pinskey said “millions for defence but not one cent 
for tribute. ’ ’ 

The straight-out-Democrats were a party that arose in 1872, led by 
Charles O’Connor. 



270 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


In Norway persons who have not been vaccinated are not allowed to 
vote at any election. 

In the days of Louis XV France was styled “an absolute monarchy 
tempered by songs. 5 ’ 

It was Tennyson, w r ho pictured for us “the parliament of man, the 
federation of the world.” 

Cortes is the name given in Spain and Portugal to the assembly of 
representatives of the nation. 

“Me, too,” was a nickname given to Senator T. C. Platt, N. Y., as 
being the mere echo of Conkling. 

McClellan’s army nickname was Little Mac. It became national 
in the presidential struggle of 1864. 

French chauvinism and British jingoism have been mildly imitated 
here as “the brilliant foreign policy.” 

A phrase much used among peace-lovers after the civil war was: To 
shake hands across the bloody chasm. 

Opportunists is a term in French politics for those who would delay 
action until a favorable chance arrives. 

It was Mr. Cleveland who originated the terms “offensive parti¬ 
sanship” and “innocuous desuetude. ” 

One of Lincoln’s pleas for re-election, in 1864, was that “it was not 
best to swap horses in crossing a stream.” 

“I would rather be right than be president” w r as said by Henry 
Clay, in 1850, to Mr. Preston of Kentucky. 

This very happy phrase, “the cohesive power of public plunder,” is 
but a misquotation from one of Calhoun’s speeches. 

The phrase “all men are born free and equal” is not in the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence but in the Massachusetts constitution. 

The phrase “blocks of five” was alleged to have been first used by 
W. W. Dudley in the Cleveland-Harrison campaign of 1888. 

Particularists is a term applied in Germany to those who wish to 
preserve the distinct independence of the several German states. 

Democracy is government of the people by themselves; more 
broadly the people who desire to exercise sovereignty either directly or 
indirectly. 

Coalition is politically applied to the union of two parties, or, as gen¬ 
erally happens, portions of parties, who agree to sink their differences 
and act in common. 

The “Stalwarts” arose out of the Republican Convention of 1880, 
led by Roscoe Conkling and others w r ho stood firmly (stalwartly) for a 
third term for Grant. 

The oft-quoted Bulwer-Clayton Treaty, concluded between England 
and America, July 4, 1850, provided that neither should have exclusive 
control over the proposed Central American Ship Canal which passes 
through Nicaraguan territory. 

Cumulative Vote is the system introduced into England in 1870 by 
which each person has as many votes as there are candidates, and the 
voter may give all the votes to one or distribute them as he thinks fit. 
It is only recognized at school board elections. 


POLITICS AND STATE CP A FT. 


271 


A demagogue is a politician who gains influence by flattering the 
prejudices or working on the ignorance of the people. Originally one 
who led the people in politics. 

The French Tiers Etat or “L,e Tiers” was the third order of the state, 
the other two being the noblesse and the clergy. The three orders com¬ 
bined form the Etats Generaux. 

The old original “palladium” was a wooden image of Pallas, said to 
have fallen from heaven, and to have been religiously guarded in Troy, 
ns a pledge of the safety of the city. 

Secret service moneys, in the widest sense of the term, include all 
funds placed at the disposal of ministers of state, to be expended at their 
discretion, without giving an account. 

Caesarism is the absolute rule of man over man, with the recognition 
of no law divine or human beyond that of the ruler’s will. Caesar must 
be summus pontifex as well as imperator . 

Annexation is the adding or joining to a State of territory which was 
previously independent or in possession of another power. It is gener¬ 
ally, though not always, the result of war. 

A committee is a portion generally consisting of not less than three 
members selected from a more numerous body, to whom some special 
act to be performed, or investigation to be made, is committed. 

Ukase or Oukaz is a term applied in Russia to all the orders or edicts, 
legislative or administrative, emanating from the czar directly or from 
the senate. The term is not extended to the order of ministers. 

International arbitration is an effort to substitute arbitration for war 
in international disputes. The International Arbitration and Peace 
Association was founded for this end (October, 1873), at Brussels. 

The term ironclad oath was applied to an oath of office prescribed 
by Congress after the close of the civil war as a safeguard against future 
disloyalty on the part of citizens of the reconstructed Southern States. 

Universal suffrage was adopted in France in 1791, in Germany in 1871, 
and in Spain in 1890, but in Great Britain, and most European countries, 
the suffrage is limited by a household or other qualification. Universal 
suffrage was one of the six points of the charter. 

Comity of Nations is the international courtesy by which effect is 
given to the laws of one state within the territory and against the citizens 
of another state. The surrender of W M. Tweed, by the Spanish gov¬ 
ernment to our own, when he was trying to escape with his plunder, is 
an instance of its operation. 

Civil Service is a term comprising all officers of the Government who 
do not belong to the military or naval services and are engaged in the 
administration of the civil affairs of the State, such as the collection of 
the revenue, the administration of law and justice, the performance of 
the executive duties of the goverment, and the representation of the 
country abroad. 

The blue book of the City of New York shows that there are 6,724 
persons paid by the city for their services. Of these 2,722, including the 
mayor, aldermen, heads of city departments and teachers and other em¬ 
ployees of the board of education are exempt from civil service rules, and 
4,002 are included under the rules, of whom 2,760 are appointed only 
after competitive examination. 


272 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Among strange political terms the “Barnburners” were democrats 
who withdrew from their party in 1846. They opposed the formation of 
all corporations because they wereafraid the United States Bank would 
be re-established. The name refers to the story of the man who burnt 
his barn to get rid of the rats. 

The ‘ ‘ colonial system” is a theory long acted on by European nations, 
that their settlements abroad were to be treated as proprietary domains, 
exploited for the benefit of the mother-country, which did everything it 
could to import their produce as cheaply as possible, and encourage them 
to a large consumption of home manufactures. 

E7itente Cordiale {V r., “cordial understanding”) is'a term that origi¬ 
nated, according to Littrd, in the French chamber of deputies in 1840- 
41, and which from having been first used especially to denote the friendly 
relations and disposition existing between France and Great Britain has 
come to be used in regard to the amicable relations of other countries. 

Voting in France is twofold: (1.) Scrutin d’Arrondissement, or the 
single ballot system, whereby each arrondissement (district of a depart¬ 
ment) returns its own member for Parliament; (2) Scrutin de Eiste, or 
the multiple ballot system, whereby all the candidates offer themselves 
for the department, and are put upon the same list, each elector having 
as many votes as there are seats for the department. 

Conservative as a term for one of the two great parties in English 
politics, was first used in an article in the Quarterly for January 1830, 
and was by Macaulay in the Edinburgh for 1832 referred to as a “new 
cant word.” Nevertheless it began to supersede Tory about the time of 
the Reform Bill controversies. In this country it is applied to the De¬ 
mocracy because of their jealous care for personal and local rights. 

Closure, originating in the French cldture , is a parliamentary method 
introduced into the English House of Commons in 1882, by which power 
is given to the speaker or the chairman of committees, to close a debate 
when it seems to him that the subject has been discussed, and he is 
authorized to do so by a motion duly supported. The equivalent of 
closure obtains in American usage through the “previous question.” 

The Hartford Convention -was an assemblage of delegates from the 
New England States, at Hartford, Conn., December 15, 1814. It sat 
twenty days with closed doors, and as it was supposed to be of a treason¬ 
able character, it was watched by a military officer of the Government. 
The convention, at rising, proposed certain amendments to the Constitu¬ 
tion; but though no treasonable act was committed, and no treasonable 
intention proved, the Federalist party never recovered from the odium 
of its opposition to the Government, and “Hartford Convention Federal¬ 
ists” was long a term of reproach. 

Non-intercourse Act was passed by Congress February 27, 1809, sus¬ 
pending all trade between the United States and either F'rance or Eng¬ 
land. The offence of England was its claim of the right of search, which 
compelled American vessels to surrender any British subjects who formed 
part of their crew. The offence of France was the Continental system. 
Napoleon, having removed all obstructions to American trade, Congress 
renewed intercourse with France November 2, 1810;- but the breaking out 
of the second American war with Great Britain in May, 1812, continued 
the non-intercourse till after the battle of Waterloo, when friendly rela¬ 
tions were restored. 


POLITICS AND STATECRAFT. 


273 


The term cabal is employed to denote a small, intriguing, factious 
party, united for political or personal ends. It had been previously used 
to denote a secret committee or cabinet, when, during 1667-73, it was 
especially applied to Charles II’s infamous ministry, consisting of five 
members, whose initials, by a strange coincidence, made up the word 
Cabai, —viz., Clifford, Ashley (Shaftesbury), Buckingham, Arlington and 
Lauderdale, 

A caucus is a private meeting of politicians to agree upon candidates 
for an ensuing election, or to fix the business to be laid before a general 
meeting of their party. The term originated in the United States, where 
the caucus has become a fixed fact, the “ticket” for federal, state, and 
municipal offices, being always decided upon by the party leaders. Of 
late years the system has been introduced into England, but is chiefly 
used by the Radicals. 

The Know-nothings, or “Natives” (1853), were a political society in 
the United States of America who declared that the right of citizenship 
should be restricted to “natives,” or those born of American parents in 
America. They were opposed to Catholicism, as inconsistent with the 
spirit of republicanism. When asked any question respecting their so¬ 
ciety, their only reply was, “I know nothing.” They split on the slave 
question and died out as a distinct party. 

The casting vote is the vote by which the chairman or president of a 
meeting is generally empowered to cast the balance on the one side or 
the other, where the other votes are equally divided. As the position is 
a delicate one, it is usual for the presiding officer to vote in such a way as 
to give the body an opportunity to reconsider its decision. Where the 
merits of the matter cannot be avoided, the casting vote may be accord¬ 
ing to the conscience of him who casts it. 

There were six Secretaries of State who afterward became Presidents, 
namely, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Van Buren, 
and Buchanan. Monroe was Secretary of War for a short time after he 
had served in the State Department, and General Grant was Secretary of 
War ad interim. There have been no Secretaries of the Treasury, the 
Navy, or the Interior, nor any Postmasters or Attorney Generals who 
have become President. Jeff Davis was Secretary of War under President 
Pierce. 

Not for mere pastime are the so-called Blue-books, the name popu¬ 
larly applied to the reports and other papers printed by the English 
parliament, because they are usually stitched up in blue paper wrap¬ 
pers. Some departments, however, issue their proceedings in drab, and 
some in white covers. The official books of other governments corre¬ 
sponding to these blue-books are designated by the color of their covers. 
The principal are: France, yellow; Germany and Portugal, white; Italy, 
green; and Spain, red. 

The Reichstag is the diet of the German empire. Since the estab¬ 
lishment of the empire under the king of Prussia the legislative council 
has consisted of one representative to every one hundred thousand inhabi¬ 
tants. As the entire population is about forty-seven millions, this will 
give four hundred and seventy members to the legislative assembly. The 
delegates of the confederated governments form the “ Bundesrath,” and 
whatever passes the two houses and is signed by the king-emperor be¬ 
comes binding on all the twenty-six states. 

U. I.—18 




274 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The cabinet is a council formed of the chief ministers of state, who 
formulate and carry out a policy. The cabinet was known in England 
as early as 1690. In the United States the members of the cabinet are the 
heads of departments, who act in an advisory relation to the President. 
They are the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Sec¬ 
retary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Interior, 
the Secretary of Agriculture, the Attorney General, and the Postmaster 
General. The salary of a cabinet officer is $8,000. 

The two legislative houses of Norway combined are called the Stor¬ 
thing or Storting. It is elected once in three years, and for business 
purposes divides itself into two chambers—the Lagthing and the Odels- 
thing (the legislative house and the “house of commons”). All bills 
originate in the Odelsthing, and are sent up to the Lagthing for approval 
or disapproval. If assented to they are submitted to the king. If the 
king dissents, they are returned to the Storthing (or combined house), 
and whatever passes the Storthing thrice becomes law, whether the king 
approves it or not. 

A tariff is a table of duties charged on the imports or exports of a 
country. The word is said to be derived from the Moorish port of Tar- 
ifa, where duties were levied on African commerce. In Great Britain 
the tariff imposes no export duties, and applies only to import duties 
levied for purposes of revenue. In the United States, also, the term is 
applied exclusively to import duties, which are fixed by Congress, and 
levied for purposes of protection. The McKinley tariff, placing a high 
duty upon all foreign imported goods, with the view of protecting native 
manufactures of the United States, came into operation October, 1890. 
Protective tariffs are in operation in most of the continental countries 
Canada, and Australia. 

The Cincinnati Association is a society or order founded in the 
United States (1783) by the officers of the War of Independence, “to 
perpetuate their friendship, and to raise a fund for relieving the widows 
and orphans of those fallen during the war.” It derived its name from 
the appellation given to those who, with Washington at their head, had 
left their rural occupations (like Lucius Quintus, Cincinnatus, 458 B.C.),to 
fight for their country. The badge of the society is a bald eagle, having 
on its breast a figure of the Roman Dictator receiving the military en¬ 
signs from the senators. It is suspended by a dark blue ribbon, emble¬ 
matic of the union of France and America. Motto: Omnia relinquit 
servare rempublicam. In several states the order still exists, and holds 
triennial meetings of its delegates. 

The term “Whig” in United States history denotes those who in 
the colonial and revolutionary periods were opposed to the British rule; 
and also it is the name adopted in 1834 by the survivors of the old Na¬ 
tional Republican party, after its overwhelming defeat by Jackson in 
1832. Jackson’s bold action in dismissing members of his cabinet, and 
his relentless war upon the United States Bank, made him in their eyes 
a tyrant little less hateful than George III, and the old name of Whig 
was chosen as expressive of their revolt against one-man power. Webster, 
Clay, and other National Republicans and old Federalists readily ac¬ 
cepted the name, under which they were defeated in 1836, and in 1840 
won their first great victory in the return of President Harrison. 
The party died in 1852, slain by the hands of its own dissatisfied mem¬ 
bers. 


POLITICS AND ST A TECRAFT. 


275 


The Ku-Klux Klan (1868-1871) was a secret society of ex-Confederate 
soldiers. “Ku-Klux” is meant to represent the click in cocking a rifle. 
The “Klan” was an offset of the “Loyal League,” and its ostensible ob¬ 
ject was to “repress crime and preserve law in the disturbed Southern 
States.” In 1871 Congress, resolved to put down the association, sus¬ 
pended the Habeas Corpus Act (under what is generally called “The Ku- 
Klux Law”) in nine counties of South Carolina. This law and the em¬ 
ployment of the military brought the “Klan” to an end. 

The legislative assembly of France is divided into Right and Left. 
The Right includes the Legitimists, the Orleanists, and the Imperialists. 
The Left includes the Republicans and the Radicals. The Legitimists 
are those who favored the fortunes of the older branch of the Bourbon 
family, represented till 1883 by the Comte de Chambord, who was called 
by them “Henri V.” The Orleanists favored the Louis Philippe branch 
of the Bourbon family. On the death of the Comte de Chambord, in 
1883, the Legitimists and the Orleanists became united. The Imperial¬ 
ists favor the family of Napoleon. The Legitimists used to constitute 
the “Extreme Right,” the Orleanists the “Right Center.” The Radicals 
sit in the “Extreme Left,” and the Republicans in the “Left Center.” 


WHAT IS TAMMANY? 

Tammany, Tamendy, or Tammenund was an Indian chief of the 
Delaware nation who lived about the middle of the seventeenth century. 
He was a great friend of the whites, and was famous in tradition for so 
many other virtues that in the latter days of the Revolution he was face¬ 
tiously adopted as the patron saint of the new republic. A society called 
the Tammany Society was founded in New York city, May 12, 1789, 
originally for benevolent purposes, but it ultimately developed into a 
mere political engine, becoming the principal instrument of the mana¬ 
gers of the Democratic party in New York City. The number of the 
general committee arose to over 1,400, delegates ultimately being sent 
from each district and precinct; and finally a central “ committee on or¬ 
ganization” was chosen from this unwieldy body, whose chairman was 
“boss” of the hall. The most notorious of these “bosses” was William 
M. Tweed, whose gigantic frauds, and those of the “ring” of which he 
was the chief, were finally exposed in 1871; Tweed was convicted, and 
died in gaol while suits were pending against him for the recovery by 
the city of $6,000,000. This catastrophe sadly crippled the power of 
Tammany, but its influence in politics was by no means killed even then, 
and it has since, with its leaning towards a protective tariff, proved a con¬ 
stant source of insecurity and danger to the Democratic party at large. 
Its influence was thrown into the scale against Hancock, successfully, 
in 1880, and against Cleveland, unsuccessfully, in 1884; and the organi¬ 
zation is still strong enough to carry its candidate for the mayoralty, even 
against a combination of opposing forces. 


WHEN ARE YOU TWENTY-ONE? 

The question sometimes arises whether a man is entitled to vote at 
an election held on the day preceding the twenty-first anniversary of his 
birth. Blackstone, in his “Commentaries,” book 1, page 463, says: 
“ Full age in male or female is 21 years, which age is completed on the 
day preceding the anniversary of a person’s birth, who, till that time, is 




276 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


an infant, and so styled in law.” The late Chief Justice Sharswood, in 
his edition of Blackstone’s “ Commentaries,” quotes Christian’s note on 
the above as follows: “If he is born on the 16th day of February, 1608, 
he is of age to do any legal act on the morning of the 15th of February, 
1629, though he may not have lived twenty-one years by nearly 48 hours. 
The reason assigned is that in law there is no fraction of a day; and if 
the birth were on the last second of one day and the act on the first sec¬ 
ond of the preceding day twenty-one years after, then twenty-one years 
would be complete; and in the law it is the same whether a thing is done 
upon one moment of the day or another.” The same high authority 
(Sharswood) adds in a note of his own: “ A person is of full age the day 
before the twenty-first anniversary of his birthday.” 


ABOUT STATE ELECTION. 

State elections are held in the various States as follows: Alabama 
and Kentucky, first Monday in August; Arkansas, first Monday in Sep¬ 
tember; Georgia, first Wednesday in October; Louisiana, the Tuesday 
after the third Monday in April; Maine, second Monday in September; 
Oregon, first Monday in June; Rhode Island, first Wednesday in April; 
Vermont, first Tuesday in September. All others occur on the Tuesday 
after the first Monday in November. Presidential elections are held on 
the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. 


THE AUSTRALIAN BALLOT SYSTEM. 

In the New England colonies the practice of secret voting was in 
vogue from the very first, and it has now been adopted throughout the 
United States. It is prevalent also in the self-governing English colonies 
in Canada and Australia, and in most, if not all, the countries of Europe 
which have adopted parliamentary institutions—in France, Germany, 
Italy, etc. While it may with substantial justice be maintained that 
open voting is theoretically the best at elections of every kind, on the 
ground that the suffrage being a public trust, it should be openly and 
manfully exercised with the full sense of responsibility, secret voting is 
now generally regarded as practically the most satisfactory method. 
Though it is not a perfect safeguard against bribery and intimidation, it 
has proved to be very effective. Since its adoption elections have pro¬ 
ceeded with greater quietness, order and with comparatively little cor¬ 
ruption. 

The peculiar system of the secret ballot known as the Australian 
system took its name from its being practiced first in New South Wales, 
a prominent Australian colony. Its distinguishing feature is that the 
names of all candidates are printed on one ticket, and that the voter 
must cross out the names of all those he does not wish to vote for. 

Many of our States have adopted this system of voting, with slight 
modifications, varying with the different States. Most of them, how¬ 
ever, have adopted what is styled the single or “blanket” ballot. All 
the names in nomination are printed on one sheet, the voter’s choice to 
be indicated by marking. There are two methods used of grouping the 
names of the candidates. The Australian plan arranges the titles of the 
offices alphabetically, the names of the candidates and usually their 
party connection being attached. 

The other form groups all names and offices by parties. It is illus¬ 
trated by the following diagram of a ballot: 




POLITICS AND STATECRAFT. 


277 


Democratic. 

O 

For Governor. 


Republican. 
For Governor. 


For Governor. For Governor. 


Prohibition. 

o 


People’s. 

o 


□ John B. Altgeld. □ Joseph W. Fifer. □ R. R. Sink. □ N. M. Barnett. 

The voter of a straight ticket marks a cross in the circle at the head 
of his ticket. The voter who scatters marks the squares opposite the 
the names of all the candidates on the tickets. 


THE PRESIDENTIAL, ELECTION. 


The President and Vice-President of the United States are chosen by- 
officials termed “ Electors ” in each State, who are, under existing State 
laws, chosen by the qualified voters thereof by ballot, on the first Tues¬ 
day after the first Monday in November in every fourth year preceding 
the year in which the Presidential term expires. 

The Constitution of the United States prescribes that each State shall 
‘ ‘ appoint ’ ’ in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number 
of electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to 
which the State may be entitled in Congress; but no Senator or Representa¬ 
tive or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States 
shall be an elector. The Constitution requires that the day when elect¬ 
ors are chosen shall be the same throughout the United States. At the 
beginning of our Government most of the electors were chosen by the 
Legislatures of their respective States, the people having no direct par¬ 
ticipation in their choice; and one State, South Carolina, continued that 
practice down to the breaking out of the Civil War. But in all the States 
now the Presidential electors are, under the direction of State laws, 
chosen by the people. 

The manner in which the chosen electors meet and ballot for a Presi¬ 
dent and Vice-President of the United States, is provided for in Article 
XII of the Constitution. The same article prescribes the mode in which 
the Congress shall count the ballots of the electors, and announce the 
result. 

The procedure of the two houses, in case the returns of the election 
of electors from any State are disputed, is provided in the “Electoral 
Count ’’ act, passed by the Forty-ninth Congress. 

The Constitution defines who is eligible for President of the United 
States, as follows: 

No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United 
States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution shall be eligible to 
the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office 
who shall not have attained to the age of 35 years. 

The qualifications for Vice-President are the same. 

The “Electoral Count’’ act directs that the Presidential electors 
shall meet and give their votes on the second Monday in January next 
following their election. It fixes the time when Congress shall be in 
session to count the ballots as the second Wednesday in February suc¬ 
ceeding the meeting of the electors. 

The Presidential succession is fixed by chapter 4 of the acts of the 
Forty-ninth Congress, first session. In case of the removal, death, resig- 
naion or inability of both the President or Vice-President, then the Sec¬ 
retary of State shall act as President until the disability of the President 
or Vice-President is removed or a President is elected. If there be no 
Secretary of State, then the Secretary of the Treasury will act; and 



278 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


the remainder of succession is: The Secretary of War, Attorney-General, 
Postmaster-General, Secretary of the Navy, and Secretary of the Interior. 
The acting President must, upon taking office, convene Congress, if not 
at the time in session, in extraordinary session, giving twenty days’ 
notice. 


HOW TO BECOME A CITIZEN. 

The right to vote comes from the State, and is a State gift. Natura¬ 
lization is a Federal right, and is a gift of the Union, not of any one 
State. In nearly one half the Union aliens who have declared intentions 
vote and have the right to vote equally with naturalized or native-born 
citizens. In the other half only actual citizens may vote. The Federal 
naturalization laws apply to the whole Union alike, and provide that no 
alien male may be naturalized until after five years’ residence. Even 
after five years’ residence and due naturalization he is not entitled to 
vote unless the laws of the State confer the privilege upon him, and he 
may vote in one State (Minnesota) four months after landing, if he has 
immediately declared his intention, under United States law, to become 
a citizen. 

The conditions under and the manner in which an alien may be ad¬ 
mitted to become a citizen of the United States are prescribed by Sections 
2165-74 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. 

Declaration of Intention. —The alien must declare upon oath before a Circuit 
or District Court of the United States, or a District or Supreme Court of the Territories, 
or a court of record of any of the States having common law jurisdiction, and a seal and 
clerk, two years at least prior to his admission, that it is, bona fide , his intention to 
become a citizen of the United States, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity 
to any foreign prince or State, and particularly to the one of which he may be at the 
time a citizen or subject. 

Oath on Application for Admiisson.— He must, at the time of his application 
to be admitted, declare on oath, before some one of the courts above specified, “that he 
will support the Constitution of the United States, and that he absolutely and entirely 
renounces and abjures all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, 
State or sovereignty, and particularly, by name, to the prince, potentate, State or sov¬ 
ereignty of which he was before a citizen or subject,’’which proceedings must be recorded 
by the clerk of the court. 

Conditions for Citizenship.— If it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court to 
which the alien has applied that he has resided continuously within the United States 
for at least five years, and within the State or erritory where such court is at the time 
held one year at least; and that during that time “he has behaved as a man of good 
moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and 
well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same,” he will be admitted to 
citizenship. 

Titles of Nobility.—I f the applicant has borne any hereditary title or order of 
nobility, he must make an express renunciation of the same at the time of his ap¬ 
plication. 

Soldiers.— Any alien of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who has been in 
the armies of the United States and has been honorably discharged therefrom, may be¬ 
come a citizen on his petition, without any previous declaration of intention, provided 
that he has resided in the United States a"t least one year previous to his application, 
and is of good moral character. 

Minors.— Any alien under the age of twenty-one years who has resided in the 
United States three years next preceding his arriving at that age, and who has con¬ 
tinued to reside therein to the time he may make application to be admitted a citizen 
thereof, may, after he arrives at the age of twenty-one years, and after he has resided 
five years within the United States, including the three years of his minority, be ad¬ 
mitted a citizen; but he must make a declaration on oath and prove to the satisfaction 
of the court that for two year* next preceding it has been his bona fide intention to be¬ 
come a citizen. 

Children of Naturalized Citizens.— The children of persons who have been 
duly naturalized, being under the age of sixteen years at the time of the naturalization 
of their parents, shall, if dwelling in the United States, be considered as citizens thereof. 



POLITICS AND STATE CP AFT. 


279 


Citizens’ Children Who Are Born Abroad. —The children of persons who now 
are or have been citizens of the United States are, though born out of the limits and ju¬ 
risdiction of the United States, considered as citizens thereof. 

Protection Abroad to Naturalized Citizens. — Section 2000 of the Revised 
Statutes of the United States declares that “all naturalized citizens of the United States, 
while in foreign countries are entitled to and shall receive from this Government the 
same protection of persons and property which is accorded to native-born citizens.” 


PARLIAMENTARY LAW CONDENSED. 

The following will be found useful as a guide to parliamentarians: 

LISTS OF MOTIONS ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THEIR PURPOSE 

AND EFFECT. 

[Letters refer to rules below. ] 

Modifying or amending. 

8. To amend or to substitute, or to divide the question. 

To refer to committee. 

7. To commit (or recommit). 

Deferring action. 

6. To postpone to a fixed time... 

4. To lay on the table. 

Suppressing or extending debate. 

5. For the previous question.. 

To limit, or close, debate.. 

To extend limits of debate. 

Suppressing the question. 


9. To postpone indefinitely. 

4. To lay upon the table . 

To bring up a question the second time. 

To reconsider } debatable question. 

I o reconsider -j unde batable question. 

Concerning Orders. Rules , etc. 

3. For the orders of the day. 

To make subject a special order. 

To amend the rules. 

To suspend the rules. 

To make up a question out of its proper order. 

To take from the table. 

Questions touching priority of business.. 

Questions of privilege. 

Asking leave to continue speaking after indecorum. 


K 

D 



A 

E 

G 


A 

E 

M 



A 

M 




A 

A 

H 

M 

N 



D 

E 


A 

E 

G 

D 

E 

F 

I 

A 

E 

F 

I 

A 

E 

H 

N 




M 




M 

A 

E 

F 

M 



A 

E 


A 

E 

G 




A 




A 

A 

E 

H 

E 


E 

H 

E 



A 

E 



A 

E 


A 

E 

F 


Appeal from chair’s decision generally. 

Question upon reading of papers. 

Withdrawal of a motion. 

Closing a meeting. 

2. To adjourn (in committees, to rise), or to take a recess, j 

without limitation.j 

1. To fix the time to which to adjourn. B 

Order of Precedence.— The motions above numbered 1 to 9 take precedence over 
all others in the order given, and any one of them, except to amend or substitute, is in 
order while a motion of a lower rank is pending. 

Rule A. Undebatable, but remarks may be tacitly allowed. 

Rule B. Undebatable if another question is before the assembly. 

Rule C. Limited debate allowed on propriety of postponement only. 

Rule D. Opens the main'question to debate. Motions not so marked do not allow 
of reference to main question. 

Rule E. Cannot be amended. Motion to adjourn can be amended when there is no 
other business before the house. 

Rule F. Canno* be reconsidered. 

Rule G. An affirmative vote cannot be reconsidered. 

Rule H. In order when another has the floor. 

Rule I. A motion to reconsider may be moved and entered when another has the 
floor, but the business then before the house may not be set aside. This motion can 
only be entertained when made by one who voted originally with the prevailing side. 






























280 MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


When called up it take® precedence of all others which may come up, excepting only 
motions relating to adjournment. 

Rule K. A motion to amend an amendment cannot be amended. 

Rule L. When an appeal from the chair’s decision results in a tie vote, the chair is 
sustained. 

Rule M. Requires a two-thirds vote unless special rules have been enacted, 

Rule N. Does not require to be seconded. 

GENERAL RULES. 

No motion is open for discussion until it has been stated by the chair. 

The maker of a motion cannot modify it or withdraw it after it has been stated by 
the chair, except by general consent. 

Only one reconsideration of a question is permitted. 

A motion to adjourn, to lay on the table, or to take from the table, cannot be re¬ 
newed unless some other motion has been made in the interval. 

On motion to strike out the words, “Shall the words stand part of the motion?” un¬ 
less a majority sustain the words, they are struck out. 

On motion for previous question, the form to be observed is, “Shall the main ques¬ 
tion be now put?” This, if carried, ends debate. 

On an appeal from the chair’s decision, “Shall the decision be sustained as the rul¬ 
ing of the house?” the chair is generally sustained. 

On motion for order* of the day, “Will the house now proceed to the orders of 
the day?” This, if carried, supersedes intervening motions. 

When an objection is raised to considering questions, “Shall the question be con¬ 
sidered?” objections may be made by any member before debate has commenced, but 
not subsequently. _ 


WOMAN SUFFRAGE. 

The following is a statement of the Woman Suffrage movement, cor¬ 
rected to January 1, 1893. Thirty-two States and Territories—a majority 
of the Union—have given women some form of suffrage. 

Wyoming. —Women have voted on the same terms with men since 
1870. The convention in 1889, to form a State Constitution, unanimously 
inserted a provision securing them suffrage. This Constitution was rati¬ 
fied by the voters at a special election by about three-fourths majority. 
Congress admitted the State July 10, 1890. 

Washington. —Women voted in the Territory for five years, till ex¬ 
cluded by a decision of the Territorial Supreme Court, which court was 
not elected by the people nor responsible to them. In adopting a State 
Constitution, the question of allowing women to vote was submitted 
separately to vote of the men. It was not carried. Many women claim 
that they were illegally excluded, and are seeking to regain suffrage. 

Kansas. —Women have suffrage in all municipal elections. About 
60,000 voted last year. 

Utah. —Women voted in this Territory until excluded by the Ed¬ 
munds law. They have organized in large numbers to demand the re¬ 
peal of this law. The State Constitution of 1884 gave suffrage to women. 

School suffrage exists, on various terms, in Arizona, Colorado, Dela¬ 
ware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michi¬ 
gan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, 
North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, 
Washington and Wisconsin. Women can vote for trustees of the State 
University in Illinois, and for county superintendents in Minnesota. 

Montana. —The State Constitution guarantees w 7 omenthe power to 
vote on local taxation. 

New York. —Women can vote at waterworks elections, and on 
questions of local improvements; also for Assembly District School 
Commissioners in the rural districts once in three years. 

Pennsylvania.— Women vote on local improvements, by signing or 
refusing to sign petitions. 



POLITICS AND STATECRAFT 


281 


New Jersey. —Women can vote at elections for sewers and other im¬ 
provements. 

Southern States. —Delaware has municipal woman suffrage in 
Wilmington and many other places. Louisiana admits women to vote 
on the question of running railroads through parishes. Tennessee on in¬ 
corporation of cities and annexation thereto. Mississippi on fence ques¬ 
tions under the stock law. Arkansas and Missouri by signing or refusing 
petitions on liquor license. Kentucky, widows whose children attend 
school vote. Texas women in many counties vote by signing or refusing 
to sign petitions for school officers. 


PARTIES THAT ELECTED PRESIDENTS. 

Aee Parties, 2 —Washington, Monroe. 

Federae, 2—John Adams, John Q. Adams. 

Oed Repubeicans, 2—Jefferson, Madison. 

Democrats, 6 — Jackson, Van Buren, Polk, Pierce, Buchanan, 
Cleveland. 

Whigs, 4—Harrison, Tyler, Taylor, Fillmore. 

New Repubeicans, 7—Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, 
Arthur, Harrison. 

THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW. 

The constitution of the United States of America having recognized 
slavery, or “service,” as it was termed, provided that persons held to 
service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, and escaping into 
another, should be delivered up, on claim of the party to whom such 
service or labor might be due. An act passed by congress in 1793, pro¬ 
viding for the reclamation of fugitives, was superseded by a more string¬ 
ent act in 1850, containing many obnoxious provisions; a larger fee, for 
instance, was paid to the judicial officer when the person arrested was 
adjudged to be a slave than when he was declared free; and all citizens 
wererequired, when called upon, to render the officers personal assist¬ 
ance in the performance of their duties. Any assistance rendered to a 
fugitive, or obstruction offered to his arrest was penal, and many persons 
were remanded under the act; but the increased hostility to slavery 
which it engendered actually led to assistance being given in a larger 
number of escapes than ever before, mainly through the organization 
known as the “ underground railroad.” The act was repealed after the 
outbreak of the civil war; and, since slavery has been abolished, the con¬ 
stitutional provision has lost all importance. 

CONGRESS AND ITS DUTIES. 

The American Congress is divided into the Senate and the House of 
Representatives, a division which was made because our Government 
was founded upon the model of England, whose Parliament consists of 
a House of Peers and a House of Commons. The Senate is supposed to 
play the same part in American legislation which the House of Peers 
does in Britain. It is a sort of governor in the machinery of the body 
politic which exerts a conservative and prudent influence on law-mak¬ 
ing. The Senate originally, although that meaning has been largely 
neglected, meant the conclave of the sovereign States of the Union, a 
council which was to look more closely after the general and external 




282 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


affairs of the confederacy, while the House of Representatives was to 
represent the people of the whole Union. This meaning, it has been 
said above, has been largely lost in the course of time, but the fiction 
remains, and the division of the powers of Government between the two 
bodies illustrates the purpose which the fathers of the Government had 
in the original separation into two Houses. 

The Senate. —The Senate consists of two Senators from each State 
of the Federal Union. These Senators are chosen by the Legislatures of 
the respective States and hold office for six years. There was a strong 
effort made at the time of the drafting of the Constitution to extend the 
term for life, but this was believed to savor too much of aristocracy, and 
after long debate six years w T as agreed upon as a compromise measure. 
The pay of Senators is $5,000 per year. The Senate is presided over by 
the Vice-President, and when he has for any cause vacated his office a 
President pro tempore of the Senate is elected. There are now (1893) 
eighty-six Senators. All impeachments are tried by the Senate, and 
when the President of the United States is on trial the Chief Justice of 
the Supreme Court must preside. The Senate must approve of treat¬ 
ies made with foreign governments by the President before they can be¬ 
come binding, and the consent of the Senate is necessary to the appoint¬ 
ments to all the great offices of the State made by the President. The 
Senate is the only permanent body in the United States Government, 
the elections being alw r ays so ordered that two-thirds of the Senators 
hold over. 

The House. —In the early days of the Federal Union the only legis¬ 
lative body was the Continental Congress, which exercised both the 
executive and legislative functions of government, and w'hich occasion¬ 
ally performed judicial duties also. The old Congress piloted the nation 
through the Revolutionary war, but, although effective for its original 
purpose, it was not able for the work which fell upon its shoulders under 
the articles of confederation. The articles themselves w r ere unsuited to 
the land, and in a little while it became evident that the United States 
experiment would end in disaster and disappointment unless something 
was done to give it shape and direction. 

The man that had led the Continental Army to glory and freedom 
through the Revolution again came forward and preserved by his wise 
statesmanship the Republic which his military genius had founded. At 
the call of George Washington the American Constitution was born, and 
the keystone of the Constitution is the House of Representatives. This 
body is the brain of the nation; on its floor all the momentous issues of 
the Republic have been settled; no higher office can a citizen win than 
a seat in the council of the Nation, none greater in the influence which 
it wields, not for America alone, but for the future of the human race. 

The number of Representatives is decided by the census; which is 
taken every ten years. As soon as this is done Congress decides upon 
the number of Representatives for the ensuing decade. The number 
since the establishment of the Constitution has been as follows: 


1789 — 1793 ... 

. 65 

1843—1853 . 

223 

1793—1803 . 

. 105 

1853—1863 . 

237 

1803 — 1813 . .. 

. 149 

1863—1873 .. . 

. 243 

1813—1823 . 

. 189 

1873—1883 . 

293 

1823—1833 . 

. 213 

1883—1893 . 

39 * 

1833—1843 . 

. 240 















MUSIC AND THE FINE ARTS. 


The beings of the inind are not of clay, 

Essentially immortal, they create 
And multiply in us a brighter ray, 

And more belov’d existence. 

—Byron. 

STRAY HINTS ON ART AND ARTISTS. 

Byron had no ear for music. 

Pope preferred a street organ to Handel’s Messiah. 

The piano was unknown before the eighteenth century. 

“Art lies in concealing art,” is a phrase credited to Ovid. 

“ It was in Greece that sculpture first became an ideal art.” 

Rococo now applies to whatever is fantastic in decorative art. 

It was Schelling who described architecture as “frozen music.” 

Emanuel Bach is said to have been the first writer for the pianoforte. 

The name “Painter of Nature” was given to the French poet Bel- 
lean. 

The harp is mentioned in Genesis (iv. 21), and is still in use and 
favor. 

Sir W. Scott was wholly ignorant of pictures and quite indifferent 
to music. 

In melodrama, strictly defined, music is always introduced into the 
dialogue. 

Of late the term “fine arts” has become limited to painting and 

sculpture. 

The art of cameo cutting reached its highest perfection in Greece 
and Rome. 

The English artist Hogarth said that “genius is nothing but labor 
and diligence.” 

Giovanni Cimabue of Florence (1240-1300) is called the Father of 
Modern Painters. 

Goethe has said that “the first and last thing required of genius is 
the love of truth.” 

Stradivarius, who did so much to perfect the violin, lived in the 
seventeenth century. 

Frescoes are of very great antiquity and have been found in Egypt, 
at Pompeii and elsewhere. 


283 



284 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


When beauty and grace are combined with utility and strength, 
architecture becomes a fine art. 

Opus is a title given to each separate production of a composer. 
They are numbered in succession. 

“Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, ” not “beast”—is 
the true quotation from Congreve. 

Centuries before our Longfellow, Chaucer had written: “the lyfe so 
short, the crafte so long to lerne.” 

It was Raphael who did most ‘ ‘ to define the true limits and the true 
capabilities of purely decorative art. ’ ’ 

The patron saint of “artists and smiths” is St. Eloi (588-659), master 
of the mint in the reign of Clotaire II. 

The finest specimens of Peruvian masonry extant are to be found in 
the ruins of Cuzco, an old capital of the state. 

The place where the chorus stood in the Greek theatre has given us 
a word that now refers to the musicians— orchestra. 

The nimbus or halo painted around the heads of holy personages, 
is claimed to have been derived from later Greek art. 

Renaissance is the name specifically given to the revival of the clas¬ 
sic style of art in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 

As a portrait painter Van Dyck is second only to Titian. His “Chil¬ 
dren of Charles I,” in the Dresden gallery, is well known. 

The general term “ gem sculpture” refers to designs worked upon 
precious stones, as cameos, or cut into the surface as intaglios. 

Michelangelo was a giant in sculpture, painting and architecture. 
All his work is marked by “a mysterious and awful grandeur.” 

Egypt reached the zenith of her political greatness and her archi¬ 
tecture its highest development between 1600 B.C. and 1300 B.C. 

Greek paintings were executed in distemper with glue, milk, or white 
of eggs, and on wood, clay, plaster, stone, parchment and canvas. 

For richness of coloring, beauty of form, the portrayal of the sensu¬ 
ous and the painting of the human face, few have surpassed Titian. 

Flamboyant w y as a style of Gothic architecture (1500-1600) in wdiich 
the tracery of windows, panels, etc., had a wave or flame-like form. 

The “Statuesque” school of French artists was that founded by Da¬ 
vid (1748-1825), who was himself called the Painter of the Revolution. 

The cathedral of St. Mark’s at Venice, with its many rich mosaics, 
is considered by some one of the most remarkable buildings in the 
world. 

The Laocoon, a masterpiece of the Rhodian school [323-146 B.C.], 
“ is said to express physical pain and passion better than other existing 
groups.” 

The Temple of Karnac, an imposing ruin, is a striking example of 
the grandeur, the grace and the magnitude of many of the Egyptian 
temples. 

Corot, Millet and Bougereau are among the best of the modern 
French school, which to-day is enjoying a position it never before 
attained. 


MUSIC AND THE FINE ARTS . 


285 


The grand decorations of the Sistine Chapel ceiling were the work 
of five years, and form a characteristic masterpiece of Michel Angelo. 

In the twenty-first verse of the fourth chapter of Genesis we read 
that Jubal was “the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.” 

The clavichord is an obsolete musical instrument of the same type 
as the harpsichord and spinet. A claviharp is a harp struck with kevs 
like a piano. 

There are five orders of architecture; the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Cor¬ 
inthian and Composite, of which the Tuscan and Composite are Roman 
and the other three Greek. 

Though in its earliest days Christianity in its asceticism was hostile 
to art, still we find many of the highest forms of mediaeval art and 
architecture in the Church. 

The finest ancient marble was that from Paros, called Parian; the 
next best were from Mount Pentelicus and Hymettus, near Athens. ’ The 
finest modern marble is from Carrara. 

Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Chopin, Meyer¬ 
beer and Mendelssohn, who are still without peers in the music of Ger¬ 
many, all lived and died within a century. 

The oldest existing statue is one of wood, admirably modeled, col¬ 
ored, and with eyes of crystal. It is of a man named Ra-em-ke, an 
Egyptian, and dating from about b. c. 4000. 

The early representations of Christ in painting were purposely de¬ 
void of all attraction; in the eighth century Adrian I. decreed that Christ 
should be represented as beautiful as possible. 

The mosaics in the Church of St. Mark, in Venice, are the finest in 
the world. They cover 40,000 square feet of the upper walls, ceilings, 
and cupolas, and are all laid on a gold ground. 

In these great works of the Italian painters it must be borne in 
mind that the masters furnished the cartoons, while the details were 
painted by pupils, many of whom in turn became masters. 

Rembrandt van Ryn raised the Dutch school to its highest develop¬ 
ment in realistic art. Perfect command of light and shade, picturesque 
effect and truth to nature marks all the work of Rembrandt. 

“The Girl I Left Behind Me” has been played and sung in England 
since 1760. Its original name was “Brighton Camp.” It is an Irish 
air, but who composed either the words or the music is now unknown. 

The Caryatides were figures of Greek women used in architecture to 
support entablatures. They were first used by Praxiteles to perpetuate 
the disgrace of Carya, who sided with the Persians in the battle of Ther¬ 
mopylae. 

The opposite art term to relief is intaglio, and means the repre¬ 
sentation of a subject by hollowing it out in a gem or other substance, so 
that an impression taken from the engraving presents the appearance of 
a bas-relief. 

The candelabrum is properly a candlestick, but is regularly used 
also for a lamp-stand. Often from three to ten feet high, it may be of great 
variety of form and may be made of marble, bronze, and the precious 
metals. The bronze candelabra of the Renaissance are also notable art 
objects. 


286 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Byzantine architecture was the style which was developed by the 
Byzantine artists from Christian symbolism. Its main features were the 
circle, dome, and round arch, and its chief symbols, the lily, cross, ves¬ 
ica and nimbus. 

In the Vatican at Rome there is a marble statue with natural eye¬ 
lashes, the only one with this peculiarity in the world. It represents 
Ariadne sleeping on the Island of Naxos at the moment when she was 
deserted by Theseus. 

The camera obscura (lit. “a dark chamber”), early described by 
Giambattista della Porta in his “Magia Naturalis,” received a new inter¬ 
est in the hands of Daguerre, when it became the principal instrument 
used in photography. 

The concertina is a musical instrument invented in 1829 by Wheat¬ 
stone, the electrician, the sounds of which are produced by free vibrating 
reeds of metal, as in the accordion. The scale of the concertina is very 
complete and extensive. 

In St. John’s College, Oxford, is preserved a portrait of Charles I, 
in which the engraver’s lines, as they seem to be, are really microscopic 
writing, the face alone containing all the book of Psalms, with the 
creeds and several forms of prayers. 

Though Hogarth, the father of the English school of painting, was 
successful as a portrait painter, it was those famous series of satires on 
the follies of people in general and of Londoners in particular that 
placed him among the “ immortals.” 

The Greeks employed music, no doubt simple in form, in their 
dramas. The chorus sang, or rather ‘‘intoned poetry,” between scenes, 
and was a very important adjunct of the play, as it was often the only 
means of showing the action of the plot. 

Alto, in music, is properly the same as counter tenor, the male voice 
of the highest pitch (now principally falsetto), and not the lowest female 
voice, which is properly contralto, though in printed music the second 
part in a quartet is always entitled alto. 

People love pictures. That is apparent to every thoughtful man 
who visits an art gallery. It may be true that comparatively few under¬ 
stand all that the artists have said, but it is equally true that, in general, 
the people derive delight from the works of art. 

Dillettante in its original sense is synonymous with an amateur, or 
lover of the fine arts. It is often used as a term of reproach, to signify 
an amateur whose taste lies in the direction of what is trivial and vulgar, 
or of a critic or connoisseur whose knowledge is mere affectation and 
pretence. 

The Cyclopean walls was a name given to masonry built of large 
irregular stones, closely fitting, but unhewn and uncemented. They 
were attributed to Strabo’s Cyclopes, who were probably mythical, and 
many of them still exist in Greece (as at Mycenae and Tiryus), Italy and 
elsewhere. 

Artists say that the next great school will appear in America and 
rule the artistic world with a more imperial power than the French school 
exercises today. When one reflects that the art of a nation is but the 
expression of the inner feeling of its people he is constrained to accept 
the prophecy as true. 


MUSIC AND 7HE FINE ARTS. 


287 


Madonna, an Italian word meaning “ My Lady,” is used as the gen¬ 
eric title for works of art, generally paintings, representing the Virgin, 
or the Virgin with the Infant Christ. Legend credits St. Luke with 
having painted the first Madonna, a portrait put on the canvas from life, 
and with having carved the image of the Virgin in the Santa Casa at 
Loreto. 

Serenade (Ital. serenata) was originally music performed in a calm 
night; hence an entertainment of music given by a lover to his mistress 
under her window—especially in Spain and Italy. A piece of music 
characterized by the soft repose which is supposed to be in harmony with 
the stillness of night is sometimes called a serenade, more usually a 
nocturne. 

Tableaux vivants, or living pictures, are representations of works of 
painting and sculpture, or of scenes from history or fiction, by living 
persons. They are said to have been invented by Madame de Genlis, 
when she had charge of the education of the children of the Duke of 
Orleans. They were long common in theatres, as they are now in pri¬ 
vate circles. 

In the fine arts a cartoon is a design on strong paper of the full 
size of a work to be afterwards executed in fresco, oil color, or tapestry; 
and prepared in order that the artist may adjust the drawing and compo¬ 
sition of his subject where alterations can be readily effected. The de¬ 
sign when completed is transferred, by tracing or pouncing, to the sur¬ 
face finally to be worked on. 

We apply the term Moorish, or Moresque, to the special form of 
Saracenic architecture developed by the Moors in Spain. Its character¬ 
istics were the horseshoe arch, the slender column, minarets, mosques, 
lattice-work, and gorgeous coloring. The principle examples are the 
mosque of Cordova (eighth century), and the palace of the Alhambra at 
Granada (fourteenth century). 

Castanets is the name of a musical instrument of percussion in the 
form of two hollow shells of ivory or hard wood, which are bound 
together by a band fastened on the thumb, and struck by the fingers to 
produce a trilling sound in keeping with the rhythm of the music. The 
castanets were introduced into Spain by the Moors, and are much used 
as an accompaniment to dances and guitars. 

The term bird’s-eye view is applied generally to modes of perspective 
in which the eye is supposed to look down upon the objects from a con¬ 
siderable height. In sketching or drawing a locality for military or 
economical purposes, this kind of perspective is always used. The great 
difficulty is to represent at the same time the relative heights of moun¬ 
tains and steepness of acclivities. But the more usual kind of bird’s-eye 
view differs from the common perspective picture only in the greater 
height of the horizontal line. 

Soprano (Ital.) is the highest species of voice. Its average range ex¬ 
tends from C below the treble stave to A above it; but the greatest variety 
in compass and quality is found. The highest compass on record is that of 
Agujari, which on the testimony of Mozart reached to C in altissimo (three 
octaves). Music for this voice is now written with the G or treble clef; 
but in German full scores the old soprano clef, C on the first line, is still 
used. The mezzo-soprano has a somewhat lower range, usually from A 
beneath the treble stave to F on the fifth line. 


288 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Foreshortening is a term in painting or drawing, applied to signify 
that a figure, or a portion of a figure, which is intended to be viewed by 
the spectator directly or nearly in front, is so represented as to convey the 
notion of its being projected forward; and, though by mere comparative 
measurement occupying a much smaller space on the surface, yet to give 
the same idea of length or size as if it had been projected laterally. 

Genre-painting is a term in art which originally indicated simply 
any class or kind of painting, and was always accompanied by a distinct¬ 
ive adjective or epithet, as genre historique , “historical painting,” or 
genre du pay sage, “landscape painting.” The term genre is now limited 
to scenes from familiar or rustic life and to all figure pictures which from 
the homeliness of their subjects do not attain to the dignity of historical 
art. 

Improvisatori is an Italian term, designating poets who without pre¬ 
vious preparation compose on a given theme, and who sometimes sing 
and accompany their voice wfith a musical instrument. The talent of 
improvisation is found in races in which the imagination is more than 
usually alert, as among the ancient Greeks, the Arabs, and in many tribes 
of negroes. In modern Europe it has been almost entirely confined to 
Italy. 

Great schools can spring only from a profound popular delight in 
expressions of beauty and truth. Art is not primarily didactic—not 
essentially religious or theoretical—but, rather, ethical, and delight is a 
moral quality. Thus the measure of a nation’s advancement in regard 
to its ethical conceptions is an accurate measure of its love of art and 
of its capability to achieve great things in color, in marble and in 
architecture. 

Perhaps it is too much to ask that the people read all that artists 
write. Granted that they do not, there still remains the fact that their 
hearts delight in expressions of truth, which their minds as yet do not 
grasp. And from such popular delight in things of intrinsic nobility 
came that sincerity which made it possible for Ghiberti, the Florentine, 
to fashion “The Gates of Paradise.” And from the spirit of the people 
the great American school of art is to spring. 

The term pre-Raphaelite has been applied to a body of artists, poets, 
and literary men who combined together (1850) to advocate, by precept 
and example, a return to nature in art. Their subsequent success and 
influence w T as largely owing to the support they received from the pen 
of John Ruskin. The name was adopted because they looked upon Ra¬ 
phael as “the first traitor to religious art,” since he idealized his crea¬ 
tions past recognition, and was the founder of what they deemed the 
“illusory” style. 

The word caricature is used to express either a pictorial or a de¬ 
scriptive representation, in which, while a general likeness is retained, 
peculiarities are exaggerated so as to make the person or thing ridicu¬ 
lous. Although sometimes applied to literary descriptions, the word 
caricature, when used alone, is generally understood to relate to de¬ 
sign. Caricature being a natural expression of natural feelings, must be 
as old as man himself, and possibly the eccentric markings found on 
rocks and in caves are not entirely due to bad drawing, but were in¬ 
tended in certain cases to ridicule the artist’s enemies. Examples of cari¬ 
cature have been found in the art of the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the 
Romans. 


MUSIC AND THE FINE ARTS. 


289 


The Facade (Fr.) is the exterior front or face of a building. This 
term, although frequently restricted to classic architecture, may be ap¬ 
plied to the front elevation of a building in any style. It is, however, 
generally used with reference to buildings of some magnitude and pre¬ 
tension: thus, we speak of the front of a house, and the facade of a pal¬ 
ace. The back elevation of an important building is called the rear 
facade, and a side elevation the lateral facade. The sides of a court, or 
cortile are also called facades, and are distinguished as north, south, etc., 
facades. 

Relief, as distinguished from “sculpture in the round,” is one of the 
oldest forms of mural decoration, and in many cases is a subordinate de¬ 
partment of architectural art rather than a branch of sculpture proper. 
It is low relief (bas-relief, basso-rilievo), middle (mezzo-rilievo), and high 
relief (alto-rilievo) according as the carved figures project very little, in 
a moderate degree, or in a very considerable degree from the background. 
The ancient Egyptians practiced a peculiar kind of low relief and in¬ 
taglio combined. The wall-sculptures of Assyria and Babylonia are mostly 
in very low relief. 

Dissolving views are pictures painted upon glass, and made to appear 
of great size and with great distinctness upon a wall by means of a magic 
lantern with strong lenses and an intense oxyhydrogen light, and then— 
by removal of the glass from the focus, and gradual increase of its dis¬ 
tance—apparently dissolved into a haze, through which a second picture 
is made to appear by means of a second slide, at first with a feeble, and 
afterwards with a strong light. Subjects are chosen to which such an 
optical illusion is adapted, such as representations of the same object or 
landscape at different periods. 

The art of painting manuscripts with miniatures and ornaments 
termed “illumination,” is one of the most remote antiquity. The Egyp- 
ian papyri containing portions of the Ritual or “Book of the Dead” are 
ornamented with veritable drawings and colored pictures. Except these 
papyri, no other manuscripts of antiquity were, strictly speaking, illu¬ 
minated; such Greek and Roman manuscripts of the first century as have 
reached the present day being written only. It w r as in the middle ages, 
and in the hands of ecclesiastical scholars or copyists, that the art of illum¬ 
ination touched its highest development. 

The Elgin Marbles are a celebrated collection of ancient sculptures, 
brought from Greece by the seventh Earl of Elgin, then ambassador to 
the Porte, and acquired from him by the nation for the British Museum 
in 1816 at the sum of $175,000. Early in the century he obtained a fir¬ 
man to examine, measure, and remove certain stones with inscriptions 
from the Acropolis of Athens, then a Turkish fortress. His agents, on 
the strength of this firman, removed the so-called Elgin Marbles, packed 
before Elgin’s recall in 1803, but not finally conveyed to England till 
1812. They are said to have cost the ambassador upwards of $370,000. 


THE LARGEST STATUE ON RECORD. 

“Liberty,” Bartholdi’s statue, presented to the United States by the 
French people in 1885, is the largest statue ever built. Its conception is 
due to the great French sculptor whose name it bears. It is said to be a 
likeness of his mother. Eight years were consumed in the construction 
of this gigantic brazen image. Its weight is 440,000 pounds, of which 
U. I.—19 



290 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATLON. 


146,000 pounds are copper, the remainder iron and steel. The chief part 
of the iron and steel was used in constructing the skeleton frame work 
for the inside. The mammoth electric light held in the hand of the 
giantess is 305 feet above tide-water. The height of the figure is 152)4 
feet; the pedestal 91 feet, and the foundation 52 feet and 10 inches. . Forty- 
persons can find standing-room within the mighty head, which is 14)4 
feet in diameter. A six-foot man, standing on the lower lip, could hardly 
reach the eyes. The index finger is 8 feet in length and the nose 3)4 
feet. The Colossus of Rhodes was a pigmy compared with this latter 
day wonder. _ 

SOME MARVELOUS PAINTINGS. 

The following brief notes on a few wonderful creations of the brush 
will be perused with general interest: 

Quentin Matsys, the Dutch painter, painted a bee so well that the 
artist Mandyn thought it a real bee and proceeded to brush it away with 
his handkerchief. 

Parrhasios painted a curtain so admirably that even Zeuxis, the 
artist, mistook it for real drapery. 

Zeuxis, a Grecian painter, painted some grapes so well that birds 
came and pecked at them, thinking them real grapes. 

Apelles painted Alexander’s horse Bucephalus so true to life that 
some mares came up to the canvas neighing, under the supposition that 
it was a real animal. 

Velasquez painted a Spanish admiral so true to life that when King 
Felipe IV entered the studio, he mistook the painting for the man, and 
began reproving the supposed officer for neglecting his duty, in wasting 
his time in the studio, when he ought to have been with his fleet. 

Apelles, being at a loss to paint the foam of Alexander’s horse, 
dashed his brush at the picture in a fit of annoyance, and did by accident 
what his skill had failed to do. 

The same tale is told of Protogenes, who dashed his brush at a pict¬ 
ure, and thus produced “the foam of a dog’s mouth,” which he had long 
been trying m vain to represent. 


STORY OF THE “ART DIVINE.” 

The cradle of the divine art was Egypt. The Hebrews took with 
them to Palestine the songs they had learned there, and many of the 
hymns of the early Christian Church were necessarily old Temple melo¬ 
dies. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan (374), and after him Pope Gregory 
the Great (590), were the fathers of music in the Western Church. Har¬ 
monies were introduced in the ninth century; the present musical nota¬ 
tion was invented by Guido Aretino ( d . 1055); counterpoint was perfected 
by the Belgian Josquin Despres ( d . 1521) and the Italian Palestrina 
(1555); and Italian opera was founded in 1600. The influence of the 
Italian school spread all over Europe; but in the sixteenth century Eng¬ 
land had a national school of her own, comprising such names as Tallis, 
Farrant, and Orlando Gibbons. Among the great composers of the seven¬ 
teenth century were Monteverde in Italy, Lully in France, and Purcell in 
England. In the eighteenth century music made enormous advances, 
especially in Germany. Church music attained to its highest develop¬ 
ment under Bach, the oratorio under Handel (1685-1759), the opera under 
Mozart and Gluck, and orchestral music under Haydn and Beethoven 




MUSIC AND THE FINE ARTS. 


291 


(1770-1827). The nineteenth century has been illustrated by such names 
as Mendelssohn, Weber, Meyerbeer, Auber, Schubert, Spohr, Schumann, 
Chopin, Rossini, Bellini, Verdi; and in England, Sterndale, Bennett and 
Macfarren. Of the later German school the chief exponents have been 
Wagner (1813-83) and Liszt ( d . 1886). Other leading composers are 
Gounod, in France; Boito, in Italy; Rubinstein and Brahms, in Germany; 
Dvordk, in Bohemia, Grieg, in Scandinavia, and Sullivan, Mackenzie, 
Stanford and Cowen, in England. 


THE PORTLAND VASE. 

The Portland Vase was a celebrated ancient Roman glass vase or 
cinerary urn found during the pontificate of Urban VIII. (1623-44) in a 
marble sarcophagus (of Alexander Severus, it is thought, and his mother 
Mammaea) in the Monte del Grano, near Rome. It was at first deposited 
in the Barberini Palace at Rome, and hence it is sometimes called the 
Barberini Vase. It was bought in 1770 by Sir William Hamilton, and in 
1787 by the Portland family, who in 1810 deposited it in the British 
Museum, where it is now shown in the “Gold Room.” The ground of 
the Portland Vase is of dark blue glass, and the figure subjects which 
adorn it are cut in cameo style in an outer layer of opaque white glass. 
In the official British Museum Guide (1890) it is stated that the compo¬ 
sition is supposed to represent on the obverse Thetis consenting to be the 
bride of Peleus, in the presence of Poseidon and Eros; on the reverse, 
Peleus and Thetis on Mount Pelion. On the bottom of the vase is a bust 
of Paris. The vase was broken to pieces by a lunatic in 1845, but the 
fragments were very skillfully united again. The Portland Vase is ten 
inches high, and is the finest specimen of an ancient cameo cut-glass vase 
known. There are only two others of similar character which approach 
it in beauty—viz. an amphora in the Naples Museum and the Auldjo 
Vase. But fragments of the same kind of glass exist with work upon 
them quite as fine. In the end of the eighteenth century Josiah Wedg¬ 
wood, the famous potter made fifty copies in fine earthenware of the 
Portland Vase, which were originally sold at twenty-five guineas each. 
One of these now fetches $1,000. 


THE IMPRESSIONISTS. 

Impressionism made its first public appearance in the Salon of 1867. 
Founded, it is claimed, by Edouard Manet, its aim is to rid art of the 
trammels of tradition and to look at nature—and to portray her—in a 
fresh and original manner. Therefore conventionalities in lighting, 
grouping, etc., are carefully avoided, while personal and immediate 
“impressions” of nature must be rendered with absolute truth. In the 
words of one of their ablest exponents, they hold that the eye of the 
painter ‘ ‘should abstract itself from memory, seeing only that which it 
looks upon, and that as for the first time, and the hand should become 
an impersonal abstraction, guided only by the will, oblivious of all prev¬ 
ious cunning. ’ ’ In the works of most of the impressionists little selection 
of subject or care for beauty of color, form, or expression is visible; and 
their art, touching as it would seem by an instinctive preference on some 
of the most unlovely aspects of the nineteenth century existence, dealing 
with the life of the jockey and the ballet-girl, and portraying the worst 
atrocities of modern costume, has frequently fallen into dire depths of 




292 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMA TION. 


ugliness and vulgarity. Certain points of resemblance to the aims and 
methods of the impressionists are to be found in the works of such able 
painters as J. M. Whistler and J. S. Sargent, and still more distinctly in 
those of several of the younger Paris-trained English painters who have 
exhibited in the Suffolk Street Gallery and in the Nineteenth Century 
Art Club. 

THE GREAT MASTERS AND GREAT SCHOOLS. 

The chief schools of painting are the Florentine, founded on the 
Byzantine school, its principal painters being Cimabue (1240-1300), Giotto 
(1276-1336), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1520), Michael Angelo Buonarotti 
(1474-1564), Carlo Dolci (1616-86); the Flemish - J. Van Eyck (1366-1441), 
Quentin Matsys (1460-1529), Breughel (1565-1625), P. P. Rubens (1577- 
1640), Vandyck (1599-1641), Snyders (1579-1657), Hobbima (1611-70), Ten- 
niers, jun., (1610-94), Rosa Bonheur (1822), the Umbrian , its chief expon¬ 
ent being P. Perugino (1446-1524); the Venitian — Giorgione (1477-1511), 
Sebastian del Piomno (1485-1547), Titian (1477-1576), Paul Veronese (1532- 
88), Tintoretto (1512-94); the Roman-— Raphael (1483-1520), Paolo Peru¬ 
gino (1446-1524), Giulio Romano (1492-1546), Canaletti (1697-1768); the 
German —Hans Holbein (1495-1543), Sir Peter Lely (1617-80), Sir Godfrey 
Kneller (1648-1723), P. von Cornelius (1787-1867), F. Overbeck (1789-1869), 
W. Kaulbach (1805-74); the Lombardian —Correggio (1494-1534), Perme- 
giano (1503-40), Annibal Caracci (1568-1609), Guido (1575-1642), the Bolo¬ 
gnese—Domenicho (1581-1641), Guercino (1590-1666); the Dutch —Both 
(1600-50), Paul Potter (1625-54), A. Cuyp (1606-72), A. Van der Velde 
(1635-72), Rembrandt (1606-74), G. Douw (1630-80), Mieris (1635-81), Ruys- 
dael (1636-81), I. Van Ostade (1621-49), A. Van Ostade (1610-85), Berghem 
(1624-85), Wouvermans (1620-88), W. Van der Velde (1633-1707), Huysum 
(1682-1749), and more recently L. Alma Tadema (1836), Schotel, Scholf- 
hart, Van Os, Van Stry, Ommeganck, Josef Israels, Mesdag, Maris and 
others; the English— Walter Dobson (1610-46), Sir J. Thornhill (1676-1732), 
William Hogarth (1697-1764), J. Mortimer (1739-79), R. Wilson (1714-82), 
Gainsborough (1727-88), Sir J. Reynolds (1723-92), Romney (1734-1802), 
George Morland (1763-1804), Barry (1741-1806), Opie (1761-1807), Benia¬ 
min West (1738-1820), H. Raeburn (1786-1823), J. Ward (1779-1859), Fuseli 
(1741-1825), J. Constable (1776-1837), D. Wilkie (1785-1841), Haydon (1786- 
1846), Collins (1788-1847), Etty (1787-1849), Turner (1775-1851), Mulready 
(1786-1863), Sir C. L. Eastlake (1793-1865), T. Creswick (1811-69), Maclise 
(1811-70), Sir G. Hayter (1792-1871), Sir E. Landseer (1802-73), E. M. 
Ward (1816-79), R. Redgrave (1804), W. P. Frith (1819), J. Faed (1820) 
T Faed (1826), H. S. Marks (1829), J. E. Millais (1829), Sir F. Leighton 
(1830), Vicat Cole (1833), G. D Leslie (1835), E. J. Poynter (1836), E. 
Armitage (1817), Edwin Long (1839-91), P. H. Calderon (1833), T. S 
Cooper (1803), F. Holl (1845), F. Goodhall (1822), Birket Foster (1812) 
Sir John Gilbert (1817), H. Herkomer (1849), J. C. Horsley (1817), W. o! 
Orchardson (1835), W. W. Ouless, (1848) G. F. Watts (1820), Marcus 
Stone (1840), John Pettie (1839.), E. J. Gregory (1850), J. Mac Wliirter 
(1839), C. Val Prinsep (1836), J. S. Lucas (1849), B. W. Leader (1831). 
Among English painters the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which com¬ 
menced in 1849, as a protest against conventionalism in idea as well as 
execution in art, numbered among its principal exponents J. E. Millais 
Holman Hunt (1827), G. D. Rossetti (1828-82), F. Madox Brown (1821)’ 
McNeil Whistler (1834), and E. Burne-Jones (1833); the French— Jean 
Cousin (1501-89), LeSeur (1617-55), N. Pousin (1594-1665), Claude Lorraine 



MUSIC AND THE FINE ARTS. 


293 


(1600-82), De Brun (1619-90), Watteau (1684-1721), C. J. Vernet (1714-89), 
David (1748-1825), A. C. H. Vernet (1758-1836), J. E. H. Vernet (1789- 
1863), De la Croix (1798-1863), Gericault (1774-1829), J. D. A. Ingres (1781- 
1867), Scheffer (1795-1858), Paul Delaroche (1797-1856), Decamps (1803- 
66),Corot (1796-1875), Millet (1815-75), Regnault (1843-71), B. Lepage (1848- 
84), Meissonier (1815-91), Gerome (1824), Bougereau (1835), Constant 
(1845), Gustave Dore (1833-83); the Spanish —Velasquez (1599-1660), Mu¬ 
rillo (1618-85); the Neapolitan —Salvator Rosa (1615-73), and the Ameri¬ 
can— Malbone (1777-1807), Copley (1738-1815), C. W. Peale (1741-1827), 
Gilbert C. Stuart (1756-1828), J. Trumbull (1756-1843), W. Allston (1779- 
1843), Thomas Cole (1801-48), Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860), W. M. Hunt 
(1824-79), W. Page (1811-85), D. Huntingdon (1816), S. R. Gifford 
(1823-80), Eastman Johnson (1824), ElihuVedder (1836), Bierstadt (1830). 
Russian art, dormant since the Byzantine period, has during the last 
forty years produced Swedomsky Verestchagin (1842) and Kramskoe. 
Scandinavian art has been represented in modern times by Uhde and 
Edelfeldt. 


THE SYMBODISM OF CODORS. 

White was the emblem of light, religious purity, innocence, faith, 
joy and life. In the judge, it indicates integrity; in the. sick r humility; 
in the woman, chastity. 

Red, the ruby, signifies fire, divine love, heat of the creative power, 
and royalty. White and red roses express love and wisdom. The red 
color of the blood has its origin in the action of the heart, which corre¬ 
sponds to, or symbolizes, love. In a bad sense red corresponds to the 
infernal love of evil, hatred, etc. 

Blue, or the sapphire, expresses heaven, the firmament, truth from a 
celestial origin, constancy and fidelity. 

Yellow, or gold, is the symbol of the sun, of the goodness of God, of 
marriage and faithfulness. In a bad sense yellow signifies inconstancy, 
jealousy and deceit. 

Green, the emerald, is the color of the spring of hope, particularly of 
the hope of immortality and of victory, as the color of the laurel and palm. 

Violet, the amethyst, signifies love and truth, or passion and suffering. 
Purple and scarlet signify things good and true from a celestial origin. 

Black corresponds to despair, darkness, earthliness, mourning, nega¬ 
tion, wickedness and death. 

THE ORGAN IN AMERICA. 

Until the middle of the nineteenth century little interest was taken 
in organ-building in America. The erection of the great organ in the 
Music hall, Boston, by a German builder, Walcker, of Wiirtemberg, 
gave the first impetus to public interest in the matter. There are now 
several good organ-makers, and one of them, Roosevelt, has invented 
“the automatic adjustable combination,” which enables the player to 
place any required combination of stops under immediate control, and 
to alter such combinations as frequently as desired. By his construction 
of the wind-chest, also, each pipe has its own valve, actuated by com¬ 
pressed air. Among the largest organs in America are the organ of the 
Catholic cathedral, Montreal, of the cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston, 
which possesses eighty-three stops; the Music Hall, Cincinnati, with 
ninety-six stops and four manuals, and the Tremont Temple, Boston, 
with sixty-five stops. 



294 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


MEANINGS OF MUSICAL TERMS. 


Accellerando, or Accel. Quicken the 
time gradually. 

Adagio. Very slow. 

Ad Libitum, or Ad Lib. At will. 
Affettuoso. Affecting, with pathos. 
Agitato. Agitated. 

Al Fine. To the end. 

Allegretto. Somewhat cheerful, but 
not so quick as Allegro. 

Allegro. Quick. 

Al Segno. To the sign, signifying that 
the performer must go back to the sign, 
:S and play from that mark to the 
word Fine. 

Amoroso. Lovingly. 

Andante. Somewhat slow. 

Andantino. Not quite so slow as An¬ 
dante. 

Animato. In an animated style. 

A poco a poco. Little by little. 

Aria. An air or song. 

Assai. Very, extremely. 

A Tempo. In the regular time. 

Bis. Twice (repeat). 

Brillante. Brilliant. 

Calando. Diminishing gradually in tone 
and speed. 

Cantabile. In a graceful, singing style. 
Con Moto. In agitated style; with spirit. 
Con Spirito. With quickness and spirit. 
Coda. A few bars added to terminate a 
composition. 

Colla Voce. With the voice or melody. 
Con Brio. With brilliancy. 

Con Expressions. With expression. 
Crescendo, or Cres. Gradually increase 
the volume of tone. 

Da Capo, or D. C. Repeat from the be¬ 
ginning to the word Fine. 
Decrescendo, or Decres. Gradually di¬ 
minish the volume of tone. 

Delicato. Delicately. 

Del Segno. See Segno. 

Diminuendo, or Dim. Same as Decres¬ 
cendo. 

Dolce, or Dol. In a sweet, smooth style. 
Doloroso. In a mournful, pathetic style. 
E. And. 

ISKSSSk. } With expression. 

Fine. The end. 

Forte, or F. Loud. 

Fortissimo, or FF. Very loud. 
Forzando, or Fz. Signifies that the note 
is to be given peculiar emphasis or force. 
Forza. Force. 

Fuoco. With fire. 

Grave. Extremely slow. 

Grazioso. In a graceful, elegant style. 
Impromptu. An extemporaneous produc¬ 
tion. 

L. H. Left hand. 

Larghetto. Slow and solemn, but less 
so than Largo. 

Largo. Very slow and solemn. 
Legeramente. Lightly, gaily. 
Lentando. Slower by degrees. 

Legato. In a smooth and connected man¬ 
ner. 

Lento. In a slow time. 


Loco. Place, play as written, 

Maestoso. Majestic and dignified. 
Martellato. Struck with force. 

Meno. Less. 

Mezzo, or M. Neither loud nor soft—me¬ 
dium. 

Mezzo Forte, or MF. Rather loud. 
Mezzo Piano, or MP. Rather soft. 
Moderato. Moderate. 

Molto. Very. 

Mosso. Movement. 

Moto, or Con Moto. With agitation and 
earnestness. 

Morendo. Dying away. 

Non Troppo. Not too much. 

Obligato. Cannot be omitted. 

Ottava, or 8va. An octave higher. 
Patetico. Pathetically. 

Pastorale. A soft and rural movement. 
Piano, or P. Soft. 

Pianissimo, or PP. Very soft. 

Piu. Very. 

Poco. A little, somewhat. 

Pomposo. Pompous, grand. 

Presto. Very quick. 

Prestissimo. As quick as possible. 
Quasi. As if. 

Rallentando, or Rall. A gradual dimi¬ 
nution of tone and retarding of move¬ 
ment. 

ReligioSO. In a solemn style. 
Ritardando, or Ritar., or Rit. Gradu¬ 
ally slower. 

Rinforzando, or Rf. With additional 
force. 

Ritenuto. Hold back the time at once. 
Scherzando. Playfully. 

Segue. Continue as before. 

Seria. Seriously. 

Sempre. Throughout—always. 

Semplice. In a simple, unaffected style. 
Segno, or :S:. Sign; as, Al Segno , to'the 
sign; Dal Segno , repeat from the sign to 
the word Fine. 

Senza. Without. 

Sforzando. Emphasized. 

Sincopato. Forced out of time. 
Smorzando. Smoothed, decreased. 
Soave. Soft and delicate. 

Sotto Voce. In an undertone. 
Sostenuto. In a smooth, connected style. 
Spirito, or Con Spirito. With spirit.' 
Staccato. Detached, short. 

Tempo. In time. 

Tempo di Marcia. In marching time. 
Tempo di Valse. In waltz time. 

Tempo Primo. In the original time. 
Trillando. Shaking on a succession of 
notes. 

Tranquillo. Tranquilly. 

Tutto Forza. As loud as possible. 
Veloce. With velocity. 

Vigoroso. Boldly, vigorously. 

Vivace. With extreme briskness and 
animation.- 

Vivo. Animated, lively. 

Volti Subito. Turn over the pages 
quickly. 

Zeloso. With zeal. 



SIDE-LIGHTS ON HISTORY. 


Here is the moral of all human tales; • 

’Tis but the same rehearsal of the past, 

First freedom, and then glory—when that fails, 

Wealth, vice, corruption—barbarism at last, 

And history, with all her volumes vast, 

Hath but one page. 

—Byron. 

INFLUENCES FOR GOOD OR EVIL. 

The word Khedive signifies lord. 

Quebec is termed the Gibraltar of America. 

Bismarck was called the “ Boot of Prussia.” 

The life of Napoleon III. was attempted six times. 

Potsdam has been called the Versailles of Prussia. 

Byron terms the era of Napoleon I. the age of bronze. 

El Almirante, without any proper name, refers to Columbus. 
Washington first called New York State “the seat of empire.” 

The Greek Herodotus, 450 b. c. , is called the Father of History. 
James I. of England was termed the Wisest Fool in Christendom. 
The ‘ third house” of a legislature is a term applied to the lobby. 
Machiavelli is spoken of by the Florentines simply as “II segretario.” 
The so-called Paradise of Europe is the valley of the Arno, in Tuscany. 
Pandours were the fierce, irregular troops of Austria some fifty years 

ago. 

Knight service in feudal times was held to amount to forty days per 
year. 

The Rubicon was a small stream that divided cis-alpine Gaul from 
Italy. 

In recent European history the term fourth estate applies to the 
press. 

The younger squirearchy of Prussia are what constitute the“Yunker” 
party. 

To Patrick Henry we owe the phrase, ‘ ‘give me liberty or give me 
death.” 

The term “nation of shopkeepers” was applied to England by Na¬ 
poleon. 

Orange is a petty principality in Avignon, owned by the Nassau 
family. 


295 



296 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION 


Mehemed Ali, pacha of Egypt (1760-1841), was the “Napoleon of 
the East.” 

Khaled, Mahommed’s lieutenant, was called by Orientals the “Sword 
of God.” 

Emancipation of slaves took place in all Britain’s colonies on August 
28, 1833. 

Shah is but an abbreviation of the larger title Shah-in-Shah, King 
of Kings. 

“Well-beloved” was a title given to a most licentious king, KouisXV. 
of France. 

Dibdin’s famous sea songs were written to promote loyalty in the 
British navy. 

There are ten republics in South America and two in North—Europe 
has only two. 

The French King Clovis (481-511) was the first entitled Eldest Son 
of the Church. 

Mossbacks is defined as a sobriquet for the remnants of the ante¬ 
bellum Democracy. 

Jayhawkers was a name for guerillas or bushrangers during the Kan¬ 
sas troubles of 1856. 

Frederick I., emperor of Germany (1121-1152), was the one called 
Barbarossa (Red-beard). 

It was the first Napoleon who said ‘ ‘there is but one step from the 
sublime to the ridiculous.” 

The States of the Church are often referred to, since 1077 a. d., as 
the Patrimony of St. Peter. 

Monsieur de Paris was a name given to the public executioner dur¬ 
ing the French Revolution. 

“There is a higher law than the Constitution” is a phrase from one 
ofW. H. Seward’s speeches. 

Black Watch was a name given to the forty-second regiment (High¬ 
landers) of British infantry. 

The Sailor King was a name applied to William IV. of England. He 
had served long in the navy. 

The Kings of Muscovy, Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Hungary all 
became Christians in 990 a. d. 

In Germany the term ‘ ‘reptile bureaucracy’ ’ applies to certain journal¬ 
ists in receipt of government pay. 

Great universities date from: Paris, 1109; Oxford, 1150; Cambridge 
1209; Glasgow, 1450; Dublin, 1591. 

Mrs. O’Leary’s cow is the famous animal that is believed to have 
started the great Chicago fire of 1871. 

A yellow flag denotes quarantine; a black flag indicates a pirate; a 
red flag, defiance; a white flag, truce. 

The “Terror” applied to the period in French history (1793-1794) 
just prior to the death of Robespierre. 

It is 440 years since the Christian church of Santa Sophia became 
the chief Mahommedan mosque of the Turks. 


SIDE-LIGHTS ON HISTORY. 


297 


Panslavism means the union of all the Slavic nations into one: Rus¬ 
sia, Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, Bulgaria, etc. 

The “ Iron” crown of Lombardy, now held by Humbert of Italy, is 
in reality a splendidly bejewelled golden crown. 

There is no Emperor of Germany; the true title is either German 
Emperor or “Emperor of the German Kingdoms.” 

“The Primrose League” of England was founded in 1883, in memory 
of Earl Beaconsfield. It has now 1,000,000 members. 

The Covenanters were Scotchmen who bound themselves together 
in 1638 and took up arms to resist the introduction of the Episcopalian 
liturgy into the Scottish Church. 

Court Jesters were persons who were kept in the households of princes 
and lesser dignitaries to furnish amusement by their real or affected, 
folly, and hence commonly called Court Fools. 

Condottieri are bands of mercenaries, ready to serve under any 
leader. They were common in Europe during the middle ages and took 
a considerable part in the endless feuds of the Italian states. 

The Chambre Ardente was an extraordinary French tribunal which 
frequently sentenced to death “by fire.” It was used to investigate 
poisoning cases after the execution of the Marchioness of Brinvilliers. 

The round table is the subject of one of the legends in connection 
with King Arthur, who, it is said, dined at a circular table capable of 
seating 150 of his bravest followers, termed Knights of the Round Table. 

Vinegar will not split rocks, so Hannibal could not thus have made 
his way through the Alps. Nor will it dissolve pearls, so that the story 
of Cleopatra drinking pearls melted in vinegar must have been a fiction. 

The original Electors of Germany, who chose the Kaiser, were the 
king of Bohemia, duke of Saxony, margrave of Brandenburg, count 
palatine of the Rhine, and the archbishops of Mayence, Treves and Co¬ 
logne. 

Dacoits are robbers of Northern India and Burmah, who make raids 
in armed bands. They gave great trouble to the occupying force in the 
annexation of Burmah, but have practically been exterminated by the 
British army. 

The Dannebrog is the oldflag of the Danes, and also the name of an 
order of knighthood said to have been instituted in 1219. The jewel is a 
copy of the flag: a white enameled gold cross, suspended by a white ribbon 
edged with red. 

Jacobins were the members of a political club which exercised a 
great influence during the French Revolution. It was originally called 
the Club Breton , and was formed at Versailles, when the States-general 
assembled there in 1789. 

Formerly, in England, branding was a method of punishment, but 
was abolished (1829) in the reign of George IV. It was performed with 
a red-hot iron on the face, hand or other part of the body. Branding in 
the British Army abolished, 1879. 

In Roman history there were two famous coalitions of three men 
each, called triumvirates, formed for ruling the state: (1) Between Julius 
Caesar, Pompey and Crassus (50 B.C.); (2) between Octavius Caesar, 
Mark Antony and Lepidus (43 B.c.) 


298 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The Italian city, Venice, is often called the “Bride of the Sea,” 
from the ancient ceremony of the doge marrying the city to the Adri¬ 
atic by throwing a ring into it, pronouncing these words, “We wed 
thee, 0 sea, in token of perpetual dominion.” 

It is not generally known that the four kings of a pack of cards are 
Charlemagne ( the Franco-German king), David {the Jewish king), Alex¬ 
ander {the Macedonian king), and Caesar {the Roman king). These four 
kings are representatives of the four great monarchies. 

The Young England Party was a party formed during the corn-law 
agitation of 1842-46. It consisted of young Tory aristocrats, prominent 
among whom was Lord John Manners, who advocated a return to a 
modified feudalism. Disraeli lent the party his support. 

The Confederation of the Rhine, formed July 12, 1806, was a fed¬ 
eration of the Germanic States, formed by Napoleon Bonaparte, whose 
disastrous Russian campaign (1812) caused the dissolution of the Con¬ 
federation, the Germanic Confederation taking its place. 

The Decemvirs were men who drew up a code of Roman laws, and 
who, in 451 b.c., had the whole government of Rome in their hands. 
They were successful in their administration till the incident of Appius 
Claudius and Virginia led to the appointment of consuls. 

The triple expression, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity {Liberte, Egal- 
ite, Fraternite), as the motto of the French Republic, dates from the time 
of the first revolution. Equality, it should be noted, merely means 
equality before the law and the absence of class privileges. 

An Africander is a descendant of European parents born in South 
Africa. An association called the Africander-Bond was formed in Cape 
Colony after the Transvaal war, the object of which was the consolida¬ 
tion and extension of the Dutch population in South Africa. 

The Young Ireland Party was an Irish patriotic party which came 
to the front in 1848, shortly after O’Connell’s death. They had resort to 
physical force, and several of their leaders, including Smith O’Brien, 
John Mitchell and Thomas Francis Meagher, were transported. 

Concordat is a term sometimes applied to secular treaties, but gener¬ 
ally employed to denote an agreement made between the pope, as the 
head of the Roman Catholic Church, and a secular government, on mat¬ 
ters which concern the interests of its Roman Catholic subjects. 

The Vendean rising in La Vendee, a maritime department of Francfe, 
on the Atlantic, in favor of the Bourbons (1793), was eventually sup¬ 
pressed by General Hoche (1796). Georges Cadoudal, the last Vendean 
chief, was executed (1804) for his share in a plot against the life of Napo¬ 
leon, when first consul. 

Sicilian Vespers is the designation of the massacre of the French 
which began at Palermo, at vespers, on Easter Monday, March 30, 1282. 
The insurrection spread to the rest of the island, and ended in the over¬ 
throw of the government of Charles of Anjou and the establishment of 
the dynasty of Aragon. 

Of deep historic significance were the Bulgarian Atrocities, a title 
given to an insurrection which in 1876 broke out in Bulgaria and was 
repressed with horrible cruelties, raising a wave of indignation through¬ 
out Europe. Mr. Gladstone published an article, “ Horrors in Bulgaria,” 
in September of that year. 


SIDE-LIGHTS ON HISTORY. 


299 


The Illuminati was a name given to several societies or sects, but par¬ 
ticularly to the Order of the Illuminati, a secret society founded by 
Adam Weishaupt at Ingolstadt, Bavaria, 1776. It was deistic and repub¬ 
lican in principle, and spread very widely throughout Europe. Sup¬ 
pressed in Bavaria, 1784. 

The oft-denounced Trench instrument, called by historians the lettre 
de cachet , was a sealed letter, in virtue of which the obnoxious person 
named therein might be arrested and sent either to prison or into exile, 
without trial or even being informed of the nature of his offence. This 
infamous tyranny was abolished by the revolution. 

The Council of Ten was a secret tribunal of the Republic of Venice, 
armed with unlimited powers (1310) in watching over the safety of the 
state. It punished at discretion all secret enemies of the Republic. At 
first it was prorogued annually, but in 1325 it was made perpetual, and 
continued as long as the Venetian Republic endured. 

The Continental System was the name given to Napoleon’s plan for 
shutting England out from all connection with the continent of Europe. 
This system began with Napoleon’s famous “Berlin Decree” of November 
21, 1806, which declared the British Islands in a state of blockade, and 
prohibited all commerce and correspondence with them. 

A representation of the half-moon with the horns turned upwards, 
called a crescent, is often used as an emblem of progress and success. 
It was the emblem of the Greek before it became that of the Turkish 
rule; but it was not adopted by the Turks from the Greeks, as is often 
said. It had been used by them hundreds of years before in Central Asia. 

What is termed historically the “Boston Tea-party” (December 16, 
1773) consisted of those citizens of Boston who, disguised as Indians, 
boarded the three English ships which had just come into the harbor, 
and threw into the sea several hundred chests of tea, by way of protest 
against English taxation of America without a representation in parlia¬ 
ment. 

Iconoclasts (Gr. eikon , “an image,” and klazo , “I break”), was the 
name used to designate those in the Church from the eighth century 
downwards, who have been opposed to the use of sacred images (i. e. of 
statues, pictures, and other sensible representations of sacred objects), or 
at least to the paying of religious honor or reverence to such representa¬ 
tions. The iconoclast movement had its commencement in the Eastern 
Church. 

Anti-semites, the modern opponents of the Jews in Russia, Roumania, 
Hungary and Germany. In these countries the Jews are found in great 
numbers, and their constantly increasing wealth and influence excite 
popular jealousy and alarm. Brutal outrages were inflicted upon the 
Jews in Russia and Hungary in 1881-4, and anti-semitic leagues were 
formed in 1881 to restrict the liberty of Jews in Germany and other 
countries. 

Abdication is the resignation of any office, political or otherwise. 
It implies the surrender of powers previously conferred or inherited, and 
is generally the result of a desire on the part of the person abdicating 
for retirement from public to private life. The use of the word is con¬ 
fined to the surrender of dignities and emoluments of importance, and 
is thus distinguished from the term “resignation” as applied to the petty 
offices of life. 


300 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Tribunes of the people were first appointed at Rome on the succes¬ 
sion of the plebs to Mons Sacer (494 b. c.). The number, at first two, was 
ultimately increased to ten. Their peculiar function was to look after the 
interests of the plebs as opposed to those of the patricians. In the course 
of time the tribunes of the people became the most important officers in 
the state. 

The carte blanche was a “blank paper” authenticated with an author¬ 
itative signature, and intrusted to some one to be filled up as he may 
think best. Thus in 1649 Charles II. tried to save his father’s life by 
sending from the Hague to the Parliament a signed carte blanche to 
be filled up with any terms which they would accept as the price of 
his safety. 

The “cap of liberty” worn in the Roman states by manumitted 
slaves, was made of red cloth. Those who wore it were called “pileati,” 
i.e. wearers of the “pileus.” In revolutionary emeutes at Rome the 
pileus was sometimes hoisted on a spear. After the murder of Caesar, 
Brutus and his rebels adopted the red cap as a token of their republican 
sentiments. 

The national badge of France since 1789 has been the tricolor. It 
consists of the Bourbon white cockade, and the blue and red cockade of 
the city of Paris combined. It was Tafayette who devised this symboli¬ 
cal union of king and people, and when he presented it to the nation, 
“Gentlemen,” 'said he, “I bring you a cockade that shall make the tour 
of the world. * ’ 

The famous retreat of the ten thousand occurred b. c. 401-399. It was 
conducted by Xenophon, the historian, who had joined the expedition 
of Cyrus. In the battle of Cunaxa Cyrus lost his life, and the Greeks were 
left without a leader. Xenophon volunteered to lead them back to Greece 
and has left a historical narrative of .this |famous retreat, called “Xeno¬ 
phon’s Anabasis.” 

All youthful readers know about the buccaneers, a name given to 
the celebrated associations of piratical adventurers, who, from the com¬ 
mencement of the second quarter of the sixteenth century to the end of 
the seventeenth, maintained themselves in the Caribbean seas, at first 
by systematic reprisals on the Spaniards, latterly by less justifiable and 
indiscriminate piracy. 

The Montagnards were a party in the first French Revolution under 
the leadership of Robespierre. They occupied in the Convention the 
most elevated seats called La Montague , in opposition to the Plaine , or 
the lowest seats occupied by the moderate party called the Girondins. 
The Mountain party overthrew the Girondists on May 31, 1793, but was 
in turn overthrown “ le p Thermidor, An //,” when Robespierre met with 
his downfall (1794). Both the Mountain and the Plain were left of the 
speaker. 

Thugs is the name for a religious fraternity in India, which, profess¬ 
edly in honor of the goddess Kali, the wife of Siva, was addicted to the 
committal of murders, and lived upon the plunder obtained from its 
victims. Banding together in gangs, they assumed the appearance of 
ordinary traders, and insinuating themselves into the confidence of un¬ 
suspecting fellow-travelers, killed them by strangling. They were bound 
together by bloody oaths, and carried on systematic assassination on a 
large scale. 


SIDE-LIGHTS ON HISTORY. 


301 


Blood-money was the money paid by press-gangs to anyone who in¬ 
formed them of a man who had deserted from the naval service, or who 
was instrumental in giving up a deserter to the press-gang. The deserter 
ought to have been a sailor, but in a “hot-press” landsmen were often 
kidnapped. “Blood-money” now means money paid to a person for in¬ 
forming against a felon. 

The flag of the prophet, or “Sanjak-Sheriff,” is the sacred banner of 
the Mahommedans. Originally the white turban of the Koreish, capt¬ 
ured by Mahommed. Subsequently a green flag was substituted, being 
the curtain which hung before the door of Ayesha, one of the prophet’s 
wives. It is preserved most carefully in a chapel of the seraglio, and 
watched over by several emirs. 

The Hanseatic League was a trades-union to protect merchandise 
from pirates and the pillage of nobles. It began with the three towns of 
Hamburg, Bremen, and Liibeck, but ultimately contained eighty-five 
trading towns. The league was divided into four colleges, viz. Liibeck, 
Cologne, Brunswick, and Dantzig. Of these Liibeck was the chief, and 
presided in all the conferences. 

The Calvinists of the Cevennes, after the Revocation Edict, 
took up arms under their leaders Cavalier and Roland, and defeated 
the French troops sent against them by Louis XIV. again and again. 
At last the Duke of Berwick extirpated them and desolated the whole 
province of the Cevennes in 1705. They were called Camisards from 
the camise or-smock which they wore. 

The carmagnole was a revolutionary dress worn in France, especially 
during the reign of terror. It consisted of a blouse, a red cap, and a 
tricolored girdle. The term is applied also to a street dance , in which 
men, women and children promiscuously took hold of hands, danced in 
a ring, ran butting down the street, broke into small parties, and danced 
vehemently like Bedlamites, till ready to drop. 

The Vikings were the piratical Northmen who infested the coasts of 
the British Islands and of France in the eighth, ninth and tenth centu¬ 
ries. This word is quite unconnected with “king,” being derived from 
the Scandinavian vik , “a bay” (the same which appears in the names 
Lerwick, Berwick, etc.), and this class of marauders were so called 
because their ships put off from the bays and fiords. 

Breaking on the wheel is a mode of capital punishment formerly in 
use in various European countries. In France it was abolished at the 
Revolution (1789), but it is said to have been inflicted in Prussia so late 
as 1841. The victim was placed upon a wheel, his arms and legs ex¬ 
tended along the spokes, and, as the wheel was turned rapidly round, 
his limbs were broken by the executioner with a hammer or iron bar. 
The French word rou£ (“a rake”) is derived from this form of capital 
punishment. 

The salic law was the code of the Salian Franks, introduced into 
France (Gaul) by the Franks. It contained four hundred articles, chiefly 
concerning debt, theft, murder, and battery, the penalty in every case 
being a fine. The most famous article of the code is Title lxii. 6, accord¬ 
ing to which only males could succeed to the Salic land or lod, i.e. to the 
lands given for military service. In 1316, at the death of Louis le Hutin, 
the law was extended to the crown, and continued to be observed to the 
end of the monarchy. 


302 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


A comparatively new term is “boycotting,” the system of combining 
to hold no relations, social or commercial, with a neighbor, in order to 
punish him for differences in political opinion—a kind of social excom¬ 
munication. It was first formulated by Mr. Parnell, the Irish leader, at 
Ennis, on 19th September, 1880, and derived its name from one of the 
first victims, Captain Boycott, a Mayo factor and farmer. 

The Guelfs were dukes of Bavaria, who contended with the house of 
Hohenstauffen for pre-eminence. From a mere German feud the con¬ 
tention advanced to a long and bitter struggle between the civil and 
spiritual powers. The Guelfs were the pope’s party, and labored to set 
the pope above the crowned princes. The Ghibellines were the im¬ 
perial or civil party, and tried to set the kaiser above the pope. 

Daimios, the old territorial nobles of Japan, who, before the revolu¬ 
tion of 1871, enjoyed almost absolute power within their own domains, 
paying little more than nominal allegiance to the mikado. At the restor¬ 
ation of the mikado, however, they were obliged to surrender their castles 
and muster-rolls to the government, who took away their privileges and 
relieved them of the duty of paying allowances to their retainers. 

The ceremony of wedding the Adriatic to the doge of Venice was 
instituted in 1174by pope Alexander III., who gave the doge a gold ring 
from his own finger in token of the victory achieved by the Venetian 
fleet at Istria over Frederick Barbarossa. The pope, in giving the ring, 
desired the doge to throw a similar one into the sea every year on Ascen¬ 
sion-Day in commemoration of this event. The doge’s brigantine was 
called Bucentaur. 

The praetorian guard was originally the cohorts of the praetor, then 
the imperial guard. They received higher pay than other soldiers, and 
enjoyal several important privileges. There were originally nine prae¬ 
torian cohorts; Vitellius increased the number to sixteen, Septimus Sev- 
erus further increased the number. For many years they acted as dic¬ 
tators, and their insolence, want of discipline, avidity and insubordina¬ 
tion became proverbial. 

The spirit or pugnacity of the British nation is well expressed by the 
term British Lion, as opposed to John Bull, which symbolizes the sub¬ 
stantiality, obstinacy, and solidity of the British nation, with all its pre¬ 
judices and national peculiarities. To rouse John Bull is to tread on his 
corns, to rouse the British Lion is to blow the war-trumpet in his ears. 
The British Lion also means the most popular celebrity of the British 
nation for the time being. 

The “carbonari” were secret societies which flourished both in Italy 
and France at the beginning of this century. The aim of the societies was 
the overthrow of the despotic and reactionary governments then exist¬ 
ing. Originating in Italy, while under the rule of the Bonapartes, they 
took their name from the trade of charcoal burning pursued in that part 
of Italy. There were four grades with mystic rites of initiation. The 
system lived till about 1848. 

The Templars were a famous military order, which, like the Hospit¬ 
allers and the Teutonic Knights, owed its origin to the Crusades. In the 
year 1119 two comrades of Godfrey de Bouillon, Hugues de Payen and 
Geoffroi de Saint-Adhemar, bound themselves and seven other French 
knights to guard pilgrims to the holy places from the attacks of the 
Saracens, taking before the patriarch of Jerusalem solemn vows of chast¬ 
ity, poverty, and obedience. 


SIDE-LIGHTS ON HISTORY. 


303 


The well known decoration of the Legion of Honor belongs to an 
order of merit instituted by Napoleon in 1802 as a recompense for military 
and civil services. It was ostensibly founded for the protection of re¬ 
publican principles and the laws of equality, every social grade being 
equally eligible. The constitution and incidents of the order have been 
repeatedly changed by the successive executive powers of France during 
the course of the nineteenth century. 

The Great Fire or “The Great Fire of London ” occurred in 1666, 
the year after the Plague, which it put an end to. It broke out at a bake 
house near London Bridge. Only six persons perished in the fire; though 
six hundred streets, thirteen hundred houses, eighty churches, St. Paul’s 
Cathedral, the Custom-house, Guildhall, and four stone bridges were 
destroyed. The people, to the number of two hundred thousand, camped 
out in the fields of Islington and Highgate. 

Fermiers g£n£raux was the name given in France, before the Revo¬ 
lution of 1789, to a privileged association who “farmed” the public rev¬ 
enues. It was a shocking jobbery, the fermiers being selected either by 
the minister of finance (who made his selection for a money consideration) 
or by the king’s mistresses. The number was forty but rose to sixty a 
little before the revolution. These farmers paid the king a fixed sum and 
made what profit they could out of the taxpayers. 

Sans-culottes was a name of contempt given to the democrats in the 
French Revolution; as much as to say, they were only the tag-rags or 
rag-a-muffins of society. Subsequently they gloried in the name and even 
affected negligence of dress, going about in a blouse, red cap, "and wooden 
shoes. The red nightcap adorned with a tricolored cockade was called 
the “bonnet rouge." Blouse=blooze. The Sans-culottes had a host of 
songs and a dance (called the Carmagnole) of their own. 

It was in 1879, under the auspices of the late Mr. Parnell, that the 
Irish national movement called the “Land League” was set on foot, with 
the stated object of purchasing the land of Ireland for the Irish people. 
Large sums of money were subscribed for its equipment, chiefly in 
America, but it was suppressed in 1881, on the allegation of outrages com¬ 
mitted against landlords. It was succeeded by the National League, still 
existing, and to both may be largely credited the present standing of the 
Home Rule agitation. 

The seat occupied by the French monarch at the sessions of parlia¬ 
ment was called the bed of justice, and historically signified a solemn 
session, at which the king attended to overrule the acts of parliament or 
to enforce upon it acts that it had rejected. This was instituted upon 
the theory of the old constitution that the authority of parliament, being 
vested in the crown, was merely delegated, and that with the presence 
of the king the delegated power ceased. The last bed of justice w^as 
held by Louis XVI. at Versailles in 1787. 

The Chartists were a body of the English people who, on the pas¬ 
sage of the Reform Bill (1832), demanded the People’s Charter, the 
points of which were: (1) Universal Suffrage; (2) Vote by Ballot; (3) 
Annual Parliaments; (4) Payment of Members; (5) Abolition of Property 
Qualification; (6) Equal Electoral Districts. Great demonstrations and 
damage done in 1838-9.. After demonstration and presentation of peti¬ 
tion April 10, 1848, the movement subsided, although the government 
had meanwhile dealt severely with some of the leaders. 


304 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


According to the legend, “Thundering Legion” was the popular 
name given to the twelfth legion of the Roman army after the defeat of 
the Quadi (174 a.d.). The legion being shut up in a defile and reduced 
to great straits for want of water, the Christian soldiers united in prayer; 
and, in answer to their prayers, not only was rain sent, which enabled 
the Romans to quench their thirst, but the rain was followed by a fierce 
storm of hail, with thunder and lightning, which threw the enemy into 
disorder and enabled the Romans to gain a complete victory. 

Jacobites (from the Lat. Jacobus , “James”) was the name given after 
the Revolution of 1688 to the adherents of the exiled Stuarts—James II., 
(1633-1701) and his son and two grandsons, James Francis Edward, the 
Chevalier de St. George (1688-1766), Charles Edward (1720-88), and 
Henry Benedict, Cardinal York (1725-1807). Those adherents were 
recruited from the Catholics, the Nonjurors, the High Churchmen and 
Tories generally, discontented and place-seeking Whigs, the Episco¬ 
palians and Highlanders of Scotland and the great body of the Irish 
people. 

The Independents or Puritans in the reign of Charles I, were called 
“Roundheads.” The royalists were nicknamed “The Cavaliers,” The 
former wore their hair short, and dressed with great simplicity; the latter 
wore their hair flowing over their shoulders, and dressed showily and 
expensively. The two came into collision about the expulsion of the 
bishops from the House of Lords. The Roundheads insisted on their 
expulsion, and the severance of the clergy from all secular and state of¬ 
fices. It was in this brawl that the two parties gave each other the nick¬ 
names of Roundheads and Cavaliers. 

The Doomsday Book, or “ Domesday Book” (1085-1086), was a sta¬ 
tistical survey of that part of England which was under the sway of 
William the Conqueror. So called, probably, because it was of authority 
in all dooms, i.e., judgments in disputed questions which afterwards 
arose on matters contained therein. It was anciently known as the 
“Liber de Wintonia” (Book of Winchester), because at one time it was 
preserved in the royal treasury of that city under three locks and keys. 
It was printed and published in 1783 in two folio volumes. In 1816 two 
supplementary volumes were published. 

The “ Qa ira ” ( “ It will go on ! ’ ’)was a popular song which arose in the 
fever of the French Revolution. It receives its name from its refrain: 

Ah! $a ira, 5a ira, 5a ira! 

Les aristocrates & la lanterne I 

Like the Marseillaise, the Carmagnole and the Chant du Depart it 
became a French national song, and was styled the Carillon National. 
The words, which are worthless rubbish enough, were due to a street 
singer named Ladre ; the melody to Becourt, a stage-drummer. The song 
was prohibited by the Directory in 1797. 

In England there were anciently two ordeals—one of water and the 
other of fire. The water ordeal was for the laity, and the fire ordeal for 
the nobility. If a noble was accused of a crime, he or his deputy was 
tried by ordeal thus: He had either to hold in his hand a piece of red- 
hot iron, or had to walk blindfold and barefoot over nine red-hot plough¬ 
shares laid lengthwise at unequal distances. If he passed the ordeal 
unhurt, he was declared innocent; if not, he was accounted guilty. This 
method of punishment arose from the notion that “God would defend 
the right,” even by miracle, if needs be. 


SIDE-LIGHTS ON HISTORY. 


305 


Guillotine, the instrument of decapitation introduced during the 
French Revolution by the Convention, and named after its supposed in¬ 
ventor, Joseph Ignace Guillotin, a physician, who, however, was only 
the person who first proposed its adoption. It was erected and first em¬ 
ployed to execute a highwayman on the Place de Greve, Paris, 25th 
April, 1792. It is composed of two upright posts, grooved on the inside, 
and connected at the top by a cross-beam. In these grooves a sharp iron 
blade, having its edge cut obliquely, descends by its own weight on the 
neck of the victim, who is bound to a board laid below. 

Conspicuous among diplomatic assemblies was the Berlin Congress 
(1878), consisting of the representatives of die six great powers and 
Turkey, who met to discuss the Eastern question arising out of the 
Treaty of San Stefano previously made between Russia and Turkey. The 
Berlin Congress resulted in the signing of the Berlin Treaty. Representa¬ 
tives of the various countries besides the resident ambassadors: England, 
Lord Beaconsfield and the Marquis of Salisbury; Germany, Fiirst Bismarck 
(president); Austria, Count Andrassy; France, M. Waddington; Russia, 
Prince Gortschakoff; Italy, Count Corti; Turkey, Caratheodori Pasha. 

The “Triple Alliance” is the name by which various treaties are 
known: (1) A treaty concluded in 1668 at the Hague between England, 
Holland, and Sweden, having for its object the protection of the Span¬ 
ish Netherlands and the checking of the conquests of Louis XIV (2) 
An alliance concluded in 1717 between Britain, Prance, and Holland 
against Spain. (3) Between Britain, Russia, and Austria in 1795. (4) 

Between Germany, Austria, and Italy, formed and confirmed between 
1883 and 1887. This superseded the “alliance of the three emperors” 
(. Dreikaiserbund ) between William I. of Germany, Francis Joseph of 
Austria, and Alexander II. of Russia, 1872-84. 

Among the Persians, the usual mode of punishment is the bastinado, 
from which men of the highest rank are not exempt. It is inflicted 
with very great severity, frequently so as to render the sufferer almost a 
cripple for life. The victim is thrown upon his face, each foot is passed 
through a loop of strong cord attached to a pole, which is raised horizon¬ 
tally by men, who, twisting it around, tighten the ropes and render the 
feet immovable. Two executioners then strike the soles alternately with 
switches of the pomegranate tree, well steeped in water to render them 
supple. A store of these switches is generally ready for use in the pond 
which adjoins the courtyards of the houses of the great. The punish¬ 
ment frequently lasts an hour, or until the unfortunate victim faints from 
pain. 

The Iron Crown of Lombardy is not an iron crown, but a magnificent 
gold diadem, containing a narrow iron band about three-eighths of an 
inch broad, and one-tenth of an inch in thickness. This band was made 
out of a nail given to Constantine by his mother, and said to be one of 
the nails used in the crucifixion. The outer circlet of the crown is of 
beaten gold, set with large rubies, emeralds and sapphires, and the iron 
band is within this circlet. The first Lombard king crowned with it was 
Agilulph, at Milan, in 591. Charlemagne was crowned with it in 774; 
Friederich III., in 1452; Karl V., in 1530; and Napoleon I., May 23, 1805, 
crowned himself with it as “ King of Italy” in Milan Cathedral. It was 
given up to Victor Emmanuel on the conclusion of peace with Austria in 
1866. The motto on the crown is “God has given it me; beware who 
touches it.” 


U. I.—20 


306 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORM A TION. 


Filibuster is a corrupt spelling of the French flibustier , called in 
English a buccaneer. Filibusters were piratical seamen, resolved to 
force their way into the New World, jealously guarded by the Spanish. 
The most famous were Morgan (a Welshman), who took Panama in 
1670; Pierre Eegrande, of Dieppe, who, with twenty-eight men, took the 
ship of a Spanish admiral; Nau l’Olonnais, Michael le Basque, who made 
themselves masters of Vera Cruz in 1683; and Monbars the Exterminator, 
who, in 1683, took Vera Cruz. After the accession of William III. the 
French flibustiers and the English buccaneers were in deadly antagonism; 
but after the Treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, the piratical expeditions were 
put an end to. 

The dancing mania is a form of epidemic disorder allied to hysteria, 
and evidently the result of imitative emotions, acting upon susceptible 
subjects, .under the influence of a craving for sympathy or notoriety. 
There is little doubt that imposture entered to a considerable extent into, 
all the epidemic forms of the dancing mania, which indeed were usually 
attended and followed by consequences that showed but too clearly the 
presence of impure motives; but there is also evidence that in many 
cases the convulsive movements were really beyond the control of the 
will, whatever may have been the original character of the motives that 
prompted them. Epidemics of this sort were common in Germany dur¬ 
ing the middle ages. 

The Magna Charta was the great charter or document, founded 
mainly upon earlier Saxon charters, which the English barons compelled 
King John to sign at Runnymede (June 15, 1215). The most important 
provisions are: (1) no scutage or aid shall be raised, except in the case 
of the king’s captivity, the knighting of his eldest son, or the marriage 
of his eldest daughter, except by the general council of the kingdom; 
(2) no freeman shall be imprisoned or disseised, outlawed or proceeded 
against other than by the legal judgment of his peers, or by the law of 
the land: (3) that right or justice shall not be sold, delayed or denied to 
any; (4) that the civil court shall be stationary, and not follow the king’s 
person. Other provisions were directed against the abuse of the power 
of the king as lord paramount, the tyrrany of the forest laws, and griev¬ 
ances connected with feudal tenure. The Charter of Forests was granted 
at the same time. Both documents have been confirmed by Act of Par¬ 
liament thirty-two times. 

We give the name of autocracy (Gr., ‘ ‘sole mastery, ’ ’ ‘ ‘ruling by one’s 
self”) to that form of government in which the sovereign unites in him¬ 
self the legislative and the executive powers of the state, and thus rules 
uncontrolled. Such a sovereign is therefore called an autocrat. Nearly 
all eastern governments are of this form. Among European rulers, the 
emperor of Russia alone bears the title of Autocrat, the name indicating 
his freedom from constitutional restraint of every kind. Such is the 
theory or principle of an autocracy, but it should be remembered that 
even the most rigorous autocrat must in practice have regard to the feel¬ 
ings and opinions of those about him. There are real though not formal 
checks. In autocratic states, palace or court revolutions are not infre¬ 
quent. This has been a marked feature of Russian history, especially in 
the eighteenth century. These revolutions often result in the deposition 
and assassination of the sovereign. In point of fact, the peculiar feature 
of an autocracy is the absence of regular and constitutional limits; it is a 
strong form of “personal rule.” 


SIDE-LIGHTS ON HISTORY. 


307 


The Girondins, in English “The Girondists,” were the pure republi¬ 
can party in the National Assembly and National Convention of the first 
French Revolution. So called because it consisted mainly of the depu¬ 
ties of the Gironde. This party was distinguished for its oratory, and 
for a time dominated the assembly; but, horrified at the September 
massacres, they condemned the Reign of Terror, and tried to bring in 
more moderate measures. This drew upon them the hatred of the dema¬ 
gogues, and on May 31, 1793, some twenty-nine of the Girondists were 
arrested at the instigation of Robespierre, and on October 31 twenty of 
them were guillotined, amongst whom were Brissot, Gensonne, Vergniaud, 
Ducos and Sillery. Valaze stabbed himself while he stood in the dock. 

The Diamond Necklace was presented through Madame de Lamotte 
by Cardinal de la Rohan, as he supposed, to Marie Antoinette. It was a 
swindling transaction of the Countess de Lamotte. The Cardinal de 
Rohan, a profligate churchman, entertained a love passion for the queen, 
and the Countess de Lamotte induced him to purchase for $425,000, a dia¬ 
mond necklace, made for Madame Dubarry, and present it to the queen. 
The cardinal handed the necklace to the countess, and when the time of 
payment arrived Boehmer, the jeweler, sent his bill into the queen, 
Marie Antoinette denied all knowledge of the matter, and in the trial 
which ensued it was proved that the countess had sold the necklace to an 
English jeweler and kept the money. The trial lasted nine months, and 
created immense scandal. 

The Falk Laws, 1873, were so called from Dr. Falk, who insisted on 
the compulsory education of the clergy of Prussia. The laws are four in 
number: (1) The first was directed against the abuse of ecclesiastical dis¬ 
cipline for political purposes, such as “boycotting,” excommunication, 
and anathemas; (2) the next regulated the effect of secession from the 
Church on the obligation to meet certain taxes; (3) the third law was 
directed at the evasions by Roman Catholics of state education incum¬ 
bent on all Germans; and (4) abolished the legality of papal tribunals, 
recognizing the judgments of the German ecclesiastical courts as the only 
authority on Church matters. In 1874 these four laws were supplemented 
by others to ensure more perfect obedience. Dr. Adalbert Falk was ap¬ 
pointed by Prince Bismarck “Minister of Public Worship,” 22 January, 
1872. In 1872 Prince Bismarck carried through the Prussian Houses a bill 
to transfer the control of primary education from the Church to the State 
authorities. 

Peine Forte et Dure , the “strong and sore torture, ” is a species of tor¬ 
ture formerly applied by the law of England to those who, on being 
arraigned for felony, refused to plead, and stood mute, or who were guilty 
of equivalent contumacy. In the reign of Henry IV. it had become the 
practice to load the offender with iron weights, and thus press him to death; 
and till nearly the middle of the eighteenth century pressing to death 
in this horrible manner was the regular and lawful mode of punishing 
persons who stood mute on their arraignment for felony. As late as 1741 
a person is said to have been pressed to death at the Cambridge assizes, 
the tying of his thumbs having been first tried without effect. A statute 
of 1772 virtually abolished the peine forte et dure , by enacting that any 
person who shall stand mute when arraigned for felony or piracy shall be 
convicted, and have the same judgment and execution awarded against 
him as if he had been convicted by verdict or confession. A later statute 
(1828) made standing mute equal to a plea of “not guilty.” 


308 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The phrase “freedom of the city” is thus explained. In olden 
times each trade in a European city formed a close corporation, and no 
person could carry on business without belonging to the particular guild 
or association of those in the same trade. As a rule, a man, to become a 
member of a guild, had to serve seven years as an apprentice, several 
years as a journeyman and finally he was admitted to the craft, became a 
master and gained the freedom of his trade. As a special honor, the 
mayor of the town, with the heads of the guild, would confer the freedom 
of the city upon a distinguished guest. It was purely an honor. The 
guild system never was established here as abroad ; but as the conferring 
of the freedom of the city was the highest honor which a city, as a city, 
could bestow, we have retained the custom of giving that freedom from 
time to time. 

The great result of the Berlin Congress was the Treaty of Berlin 
(signed July 12, ratified August 3, 1878). Its principal articles consti¬ 
tuted the autonomous principality of Bulgaria and the new province of 
Eastern Roumelia; ceded certain parts of Armenia to Persia and Russia; 
secured the independence of Servia, Roumania and Montenegro; trans¬ 
ferred Herzegovina and Bosnia to Austrian administration and occupa¬ 
tion; retrocession to Russia of Bessarabia, Batoum (made a free port), 
Kars and Ardahan; Alasgird and Bayazid restored to Turkey, which 
undertook certain legal and religious reforms in Crete and its other de¬ 
pendencies. Greece also obtained an accesson of territory. The treaties 
of London and of Paris, when not modified by this treaty, to be main¬ 
tained. England, by a separate agreement previously made with Turkey, 
obtained the administration of Cyprus. 

The Star-chamber, a tribunal which met in the old council chamber 
of the palace of Westminster, and is said to have got its name from the 
roof of that apartment being decorated with gilt stars, or because in it 
“starres” or Jewish bonds had been kept. It is supposed to have origin¬ 
ated in early times out of the exercise of jurisdiction by the king’s coun¬ 
cil, whose powers in this respect had greatly declined when in 1487 
Henry VII., anxious to repress the indolence and illegal exertions of 
powerful landowners, revived and remodelled them, or, according to 
some investigators, instituted what was practically an entirely new tri¬ 
bunal. The statute conferred on the Chancellor, the Treasurer and the 
Keeper of the Privy Seal, with the assistance of a bishop and a temporal 
Lord of the Council, Chief justices, or two other justices in their absence, 
a jurisdiction to punish, without a jury, the misdemeanors of sheriffs 
and juries, as well as riots and unlawful assemblies. Henry VIII. added 
to the other members of the court the President of the Council, and ulti¬ 
mately all the privy-councillors. 

The rack, an instrument of torture, used for extracting confessions 
from actual or suspected criminals, consisted of an oblong frame of wood, 
with a windlass arrangement at each end, to which the sufferer was 
bound by cords attached to his arms and legs. The unfortunate being was 
then stretched or pulled till he made confession, or till his limbs were 
dislocated. The rack was known to the Romans in Cicero’s time, and in the 
first and second centuries a.d. was applied to the early Christians. Accord¬ 
ing to Coke, it was introduced into England by the Duke of Exeter, 
Constable of the Tower in 1447, whence it came to be called the ‘ 1 Duke 
of Exeter’s daughter.” Its use first became common in the time of Henry 
VIII., but could only take place by warrant of council, or under the sign- 


SIDE-LIGHTS ON HISTORY. 


309 


manual. Under Elizabeth it was in almost constant use. In 1628, on the 
murder by Felton of the Duke of Buckingham, it being proposed by 
Charles I. to put the assassin to the rack, in order that he might discover 
his accomplices, the judges resisted the proceedings as contrary to the 
law of England. In various countries of Europe the rack has been much 
used both by the civil authorities in cases of traitors and conspirators, 
and by the Inquisition to extort a recantation of heresy. It is no longer 
in use in any part of the civilized world. 

The commune is the unit or lowest division in the administration of 
France, corresponding in the rural districts to our township, and in towns 
to a municipality. The rising of the Commune at Paris in 1871, and 
which should not be confounded with communism, was a revolutionary 
assertion of the autonomy of Paris, that is, of the right of self-govern¬ 
ment through its commune or municipality. The theory of the rising 
was that every commune should have a real autonomy, the central govern¬ 
ment being merely a federation of communes. The movement was based 
on discontent at Paris, where the people found themselves in possession 
of arms after the siege by the Germans. The rising began on the 18th 
March, 1871, and was only suppressed ten weeks later after long, bloody 
fighting between the forces of the Commune and a large army of the cen¬ 
tral government; 6,500 Communists having fallen during 20-30th May, 
and 38,578 been taking prisoners. 

Wat Tyler’s insurrection occurred November 5, 1380. A peasant’s 
revolt, immediately due to the imposition of a poll-tax on all persons 
above fifteen. Almost the whole of the peasantry of the southern and 
eastern counties of England rose in arms, murdering and plundering, 
under the leadership of Wat Tyler, said to have been a soldier in the 
French wars. On June 12, 1381, they gathered on Blackheath. On June 
14, Richard II., then a lad of fifteen, met the Essex contingent at Mile 
End, and, promising the abolition of villenage, induced them to return 
home. On June 15, he met the Kentish men at Smithfield, and in the 
parley Wat Tyler was killed by William Walworth, mayor of London, 
and others. The peasants were about to avenge his death, when Rich¬ 
ard, with great presence of mind, rode forward alone, and induced them 
to follow him to Islington, when, a body of troops coming to the king’s 
aid, and Richard being profuse of promises, they dispersed. 


THE FIRST FRENCH REVOLUTION. 


ITS CHIEF LEADERS: 

Comte de Mirabeau, 1789-1791. 

Dauton, from the death of Mirabeau to 1793. 

Robespierre, from June, 1793, to July 27, 1794. 

Next to these three were St. Just, Couthon, Marat, Carrier, Hebert, Santerre, Ca¬ 
mille Desmoulins, Roland and his wife, Brissot, Barnave, Sey£s, Barras, Tallien, etc. 


ITS GREAT DAYS: 

1789 Tune 17 The Tiers Etat constituted itself into the-‘National Assembly”; June 
* 20 the day of the Jen de Paume , when the Assembly took an oath not to separate 
till it had given France a constitution ; July 14, Storming of the Bastille: October 
5, 6 , the King and National Assembly transferred from Versailles to Paris. This 
ciosed the ancient regime of the court. 

1791 Tune 20, 21. Flight and capture of the king, queen, and royal family 
1799 Tune 20 attack on the Tuileries by Santerre; August 10, attack on the Tuilenes 
' and downfall of the monarchy; September 2, 3, 4, massacre of the state prisoners 
1793 Tauuarv 21 Louis XVI guillotined: May 31, commencement of the Reign of 
Terror ^June 2, the Girondists proscribed; October 16, Marie Antoinette guillo¬ 
tined : October 31, the Girondists guillotined 
1794. April 5, downfall of Danton; July 27, downfall of Robespierre. 



310 


MANUAL OF USEFUL IN FORM A LION. 


MODES OF EXECUTING CRIMINALS. 


COUNTRY. MODE. 

Austria.Gallons. 

Bavaria.Guillotine. 

Belgium. .Guillotine. 

Brunswick.. Ax. . 

China.Sword or cord... 

Denmark.Guillotine. 

Ecuador.Musket. 

France....Guillotine. 

Great Britain .Gallows . 

Hanover.Guillotine. 

Netherlands.Gallows. 

Oldenberg.Musket. 

Portugal.Gallows. 

Prussia.Sword . 

Russia.Musket, gallows, or sword 

Saxony.Guillotine. 

Spain..Garrote. 

Switzerland— 

Fifteen cantons.Sword. 

Two cantons.Guillotine. 

Two cantons.Guillotine. 

United States (other than New 

York) .Gallows. 

New York.Electricity. 


PUBLICITY. 

_Public. 

_Private. 

_Public. 

.... Private. 
.. ..Public. 

,. .. Public. 

... Public. 

.... Public. 

... .Private. 

_Private. 

... Public. 

... .Public. 

_Public. 

_Private. 

_Public. 

_Private. 

_Public. 

.. .. Public. 

_Public. 

_Private. 

j Mostly 
.. ) Private. 
_Private. 


MONARCHS WHO RETIRED FROM BUSINESS. 

The following are the names of European monarchs who have 
abdicated : 

Amadeus I. (duke of Aosta) Spain.1873 

Charles IV. of Spain (forced) .1808 

Charles V. of Spain and Germany.1556 

Charles X. of France (forced).1830 

Charles Albert of Sardinia (forced).1849 

Charles Emmanuel of Sardinia.1802 

Christina of Sweden . 1654 

Diocletian and Maximian.305, 308 

Felipe V. of Spain.Il724 

Francis II. of the Two Sicilies (forced)..I860 

James II. of England (forced).1689 

Louis Bonaparte of Holland . 1810 

Louis Philippe of France (forced).1848 

Ludwig of Bavaria (forced). 1848 

Matilda (Lady of England). 1154 

Milan of Servia.1889 

Napoleon I. of France (forced).1814 

Napoleon III. of France (forced).1870 

Othoof Greece (forced).1863 

Pedro II. of Brazil (forced).1889 

Poniatowski of Poland (forced). ]795 

Richard II. of England (forced). 1399 

Stanislaus Leszczinski (forced).I 735 

Victor Amndeus of Sardinia.. 

Victor Emmanuel.'.. ...1819 

Several were dethroned without even the mocking show of abdication, like Edward 
II. of England (1327); Henry VI. of England (1471) ; etc. 


FATHERS OF THEIR COUNTRY. 

Cicero was called Father of his Country by the Roman senate (b.c. 
106-43). Julius Caesar was so called after quelling the insurrection in 
Spain (b.c. 100-43). Augustus Caesar was called "Pater atque Princeps 
(b.c. 63, 31-14). Cosmo de Medici (1389-1464). George Washington, 
defender and paternal counsellor of the American States (1732-1799)! 
Andrea Dorea is so called on the base of his statue in Genoa (1468-15601 
Andronicus Palaeologus II. assumed the title (1260-1332). See also 
Chron. iv. 14. 
















































































SIDE-LIGHTS ON HISTORY. 


311 


HISTORY IN RHYME. 

The following are given as helpful mnemonic verses: 

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

First stands the loft} 7 Washington, 

That noble, great immortal one. 

The elder Adams next we see, 

And Jefferson comes number three. 

The fourth is Madison, you know, 

The fifth one on the list, Monroe. 

The sixth an Adams comes again, 

And Jackson seventh in the train, 

Van Buren eighth upon the line, 

And Harrison counts number nine. 

The tenth is Tyler, in his turn, 

And Polk the eleventh as we learn. 

The twelfth is Taylor that appears, 

The thirteenth Fillmore fills his years. 

Then Pierce comes fourteenth into view, 
Buchanan is the fifteenth due. 

Now Lincoln conies two terms to fill, 

But God o’errules the people’s will, 

And Johnson fills the appointed time, 

Cut short by an assassin’s crime. 

Next Grant assumes the lofty seat, 

The man who never knew defeat. 

Two terms to him; then Hayes succeeds, 

And quietly the nation leads. 

Garfield comes next, the people’s choice; 

But soon ascends a mourning voice 
From every hamlet in the land. 

A brutal wretch with murderous hand 
Strikes low the country’s chosen chief. 

And anxious millions, plunged in grief, 

Implore in vain Almighty aid, 

That death’s rude hand might yet be stayed. 

Kind Arthur’s term was then begun, 

Which made the number twenty-one. 

Stout Cleveland next the honors won 
And then the second Harrison, 

Until the nation’s voice again 
Called Cleveland as its man of men; 

The twenty-fourth in order he— 

All champions brave of Liberty. 

Sovereigns of England since the Norman conquest: 

Two Williams, Henry, Stephen, Henry, Dick, 

John, Hal, three Neds, Richard and three Hals quick, 
Two Edwards, Richard, two Harrys and a Ned, 

Mary, Bess, James and Charles who lost his head, 
Charles, James, Will, Ann, four Georges and a Bill, 
And Queen Victoria who is reigning still. 


THE CHAMP DE MARS. 

The Champ de Mars, or “Field of March,” was a grand general as¬ 
sembly of Frank warriors, held from time to time in Gaul from the fifth 
century till the time of Charles le Chauve (877), when all trace of them 
disappears. The objects of these conventions were twofold: (1) that of 
military reviews, in which the freemen came to pay homage to their 
chief and bring their annual gifts; and (2) consultative deliberations upon 
what expeditions should be made, what should be done for the defence 
of the nation and what laws should be passed for the better government 
of the state. From 755 these assemblies were held in May. Napoleon I. 
announced a gathering to be held in the great plain, called the Champ de 
Mars of Paris, on May 26; but it was not held till June 1, 1815. The 
object was to proclaim H Acte additionel aux constitutions de VEmpire. 



312 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


ORIGIN OP SOME ’ISMS. 

Socialism was primarily a system for the regulation of labor by 
co-operation without competition. Louis Blanc was the father of the 
system, and his “Organisation du Travail” was published in 1840. In 
this book he denounces the plan of “individualism,” and advocates 
“solidarity,” in which each workman is to be paid according to his 
need—a bachelor two francs a day, a married man two and one-half and 
a man with a family three francs. In 1848 national workshops were 
tried in Paris on the Louis Blanc principle. Government was the em¬ 
ployer of labor, and private enterprise was abolished as far as possible. 
It was soon found that the national workshops were overcrowded, work 
was ill-done, idle hands multiplied, and profitless work had to be 
invented to keep the men out of mischief. Some 1,500 tailors were set 
to work in the Hotel Clichy at two francs a day, but the scheme was a 
total failure. 

Plato’s “Republic” is an ideal communism. Minos and Lycurgus 
were communists. The early Christians had “all things in common,” 
but the notion of government being the sole employer of labor, and 
paying each, not according to the work done, but according to indi¬ 
vidual necessity, was left to the device of Louis Blanc. 

Bellamy’s novel entitled “Looking Backward” is based somewhat 
on the same idea. 

Communism is a scheme for associating men and women together 
without recourse to the laws of social and political economy usually 
resorted to. The representatives of communism are Robert Owen, St. 
Simon, Fourier, Proudhon and Enfantin. 

(1) Owen published his scheme in 1813, and tried it in 1825 at 
Orbiston, in Lanarkshire. This scheme failed, and in 1843 he opened 
his “Harmony Hall” in Hampshire, but this also was a failure. 

(2) St. Simon established a corporate society at Menilmontant, but 
Louis Philippe charged it with immorality and irreligion. The leaders 
were imprisoned and the commune dissolved. 

. (3) Fourier established his “phalanstery” at Rambouillet, but it 
proved a total failure. 

(4) Proudhon is noted for his axiom, “La propriete, c’est levol,” 
1848, and for his Banque du Peuple , 1849, which had for its object the 
suppression of capital. It was closed by authority, and Proudhon fled 
to Geneva. 

(5) Enfantin, a partisan of St. Simon, advocated the abolition of 
marriage ties, and was prosecuted on the grounds of public decency. 

Fourierism was the social system devised by Charles Fourier. He 
would divide men into groups of 400 families, and these groups into 
series, and these series into phalanxes. A single group he would place 
under one immense roof, and there should be supplied every appliance 
of industry and art. No army would be required, no wars could ever 
break out, as all the world would be one great family. 

Simonianism was the school of the Industrialists, founded in 1825 
by St. Simon for the amelioration of the working classes, perverted after 
his death into a communistic society, advocating the aristocracy of toil, 
the perfect equality of man, community of property and the abolition of 
inheritance and marriage. Abolished by law in 1833. 


MYSTIC LETTERS AND NUMBERS 


Figures mystical and awful . . . 

Songs of war and songs of hunting, 

Songs of medicine and of magic, 

All were written in these figures, 

For each figure had its meaning, 

E)ach its separate song recorded. 

—Longfellow. 

SUNDRY ODD PICKINGS. 

Noah had three sons. 

Job had three friends. 

Uightning is three-forked. 

The “ Glorious Fourth ” means July 4, 1776. 

Hesiod said the half is more than the whole. 

Jonah remained for three days in the whale’s belly. 

The Prince of Wales’ crest consists of three feathers. 

There were three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

Barbarossa changes position in his sleep every seven years. 
Charlemagne starts in his chair from sleep every seven years. 

Olaf Redbeard, of Sweden, uncloses his eyes every seven years. 
Three companions of Daniel were thrown into the fiery furnace. 

Five is conspicuous in man—five fingers, five senses, five members. 
Ogier the Dane stamps his iron mace on the floor every seven years. 
The Five Kings of France was a term applied to the Directorate, 
1795. 

The “ City of Forty Times Forty Churches ” is a name bestowed on 
Moscow. 

Seven becomes sacred as it is composed of two good numbers, three 
and four. 

In France, Belgium, Holland and Italy the national standards have 
three colors. 

The melancholy Jacques’ disquisition on “ the seven ages of man ” 
is well known. 

The twenty-first verse of the seventh chapter of Ezra contains all the 
letters of the alphabet except “j,” which originally was the consonantal 
form of “i.” 


313 



314 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


“Barry Cornwall, Poet,” is an anagrammatic pseudonym for Bryan 
Waller Proctor. 

For three days Daniel remained in the lions’ den because he prayed 
three times a day. 

Some scientists assert that there is a complete change in the human 
body every seven years. 

The saying “ six thrice or three dice,” sprang from the fact that aces 
were callod dice, and didn’t count. 

There were seven great wonders of the world in classic times. They 
are described elsewhere in this volume. 

Six has for its symbol two equilateral triangles placed base to base, 
representative of equilibrium and peace. 

Placentius, a sixteenth century Dom ; nican, wrote a Batin poem of 
253 stanzas, every word of which begins with P. 

“Get nymph; quiz sad brows; fix luck,” containing all the letters 
of the alphabet, is capital advice to a young man. 

The alphabet is inexhaustible in its possibilities. Some one calcu¬ 
lates 620,448,401,733,239,439,369,000 transpositions. 

In Alchemy the Sun is gold, the Moon silver, Mars iron, Mercury 
quicksilver, Saturn lead, Jupiter tin and Venus copper. 

An Englishman, wishing to revile America, has been noted as speak¬ 
ing, “ The ’ideous Hamerican ’abit of habusing haitch.” 

“The ’orn of the ’unter is ’eard on the ’ill ” is a cockney version of 
the line from Mrs. Crawford’s “ Kathleen Mavourneen.” 

Seven sciences composed the Trivium and Quadrivium, viz., gram¬ 
mar, rhetoric, and logic, music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy. 

Note the three in “fish, flesh and fowl;” “morning, noon and 
night;” “water, snow and ice;” “heaven, earth and hell;” “red, 
white and blue.” 

Among the Chinese, heaven is odd , earth is even; heaven is round , 
earth is square. The numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, belong to yang (“ heaven ”); 
but 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, belong toj yin (“ earth ”). 

The Nine Worthy Women were: (1) Minerva, (2) Semiramis, (3) 
Tomyris, (4) Jael, (5) Deborah, (6) Judith, (7) Britomart, (8) Elizabeth or 
Isabella of Aragon, (9) Johanna of Naples. 

Jericho fell on the seventh day. To accomplish this seven priests 
with seven trumpets march around the city once a day, and on the 
seventh day seven times—and the walls fell. 

“ Ha helephant heasily heats hat ’is hease 
Hunder humbrageous humbrella trees.” 

—Moore. 

The seventy years’ captivity of the Jews in Babylon, which lasted 
seventy years, began b.c. 584 and ended b.c. 515. They were carried 
into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar and released by Cyrus. This is also 
called “The Babylonish Captivity.” 

Ancient Rome, built on seven hills, surrounded by Servius Tullius 
with a line of fortifications, was called the seven-hilled city. The seven 
hills are the Pallatlnus, the Capitolinus, the Quirinalis, the Caelius, the 
A^entlnus, the Viminalis, and Esquilinus. 


MYSTIC LETTERS AND NUMBERS. 


315 


Seven times Christ spoke on the Cross: (1) “Father, forgive them, 
for they know not what they do;” (2) “To-day shalt thou be with Me in 
paradise;” (3) “Woman, behold thy son!” (4) “My God, My God, why 
hast Thou forsaken Me?” (5) “I thirst;” (6) “It is finished!” (7) 
“ Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” 

The ten numerations are cabalistic doctrine. Three are called the 
superior, and seven the inferior numerations. The three superior are 
the supreme diadem, wisdom and understanding. These existed from 
all eternity. The seven inferior numerations are mercy, severity or 
might, beauty, victory, glory, stability and sovereignty. 

‘ ‘TheThree R’s—reading, ’ riting and ’ rithmetic’ ’—is the title of a toast 
given at a dinner in honor of the Board of Education by Sir Wm. Curtis, 
Bart., Ford Mayor of London, in 1795. In consequence of this toast the 
Lord Mayor has been handed down to posterity as an ignoramus, though 
those present recognized the jest clothed in the elisions. 

One solution of Daniel’s seventy weeks is to suppose it to begin with 
the decree of Darius given to Ezra b.c. 491, and the seventy weeks to mean 
seventy times seven years [i.e. four hundred and ninety), which would 
bring us to the birth of Christ, ‘ ‘ when a finish was made to transgres¬ 
sion, and an end put to sins by the reconciliation of the Messiah, the 
prince.” 


Our word alphabet is composed of the first two letters of the Greek 
alphabet, Alpha and Beta. These were adopted from the Phoenician 
Aleph and Beth , which mean respectively “ox” and “house”—referring 
no doubt to the shape of the letters—which show us the connection 
between the alphabet as we know it and the ancient cuneiform and 
hieroglyphic writing of Babylonia and Egypt. 

Card-players who are continually bewailing their ill-luck of always 
receiving the same poor cards, will, perhaps, be reassured by knowing 
that the fifty-two cards, with thirteen to each of the four players, can be 
distributed in 53,644,737,756,488,792,839,237,440,000 different ways, so 
that there would still be a good stock of combinations to draw from, 
even if a man from Adam’s time had devoted himself to no other occu¬ 
pation than that of playing at cards. 

One gallon of water weighs ten pounds, so the number of gallons in 
the Pacific is over 200,000,000,000,000, an amount which would tak more 
than 1,000,000 years to pass over the falls of Niagara. Yet, put into a 
sphere, the whole of the Pacific would only measure 726 miles across. 
The Atlantic could be contained bodily in the Pacific nearly three times. 
The number of cubic feet is 11,700,000,000,000,000,000, a number that 
would be ticked off by 1,000,000 clocks in 370,000 years. 

Abracadabra is a magical word or formula 
constructed out of the letters of the alphabet, 
and supposed to be highly efficacious for the cure 
of agues and fevers. The letters were written so 
as to form a triangle, capable of being read many 
ways on a square piece of paper, which was folded 
or stitched into the form of a cross; worn as an 
amulet in the bosom for nine days, and ultimately 
thrown backward before sunrise into a stream 
running eastward. The adjoining is one way of 
arranging this mystic word. 


ABRACADABRA 
ABRACADABR 
ABRACADAB 
ABRACADA 
A B R A C A D 
A B R A C A 
A B R A C 
A B R A 
A B R 
A B 
A 


316 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Writing is of two kinds — ideographic, in which signs represent 
ideas; and phonetic, in which signs represent sounds. Ideographic 
writing, which preceded phonetic writing, is illustrated by the picture¬ 
writing of the ancient Mexicans, and by the Chinese system of writing, 
which is strictly ideographic. The Phoenician and other Semitic nations 
derived their knowledge of writing from the Egyptians. The art was 
introduced from Phoenicia into Greece, and from Greece into Italy, 
whence it spread with the spread of Christianity. 

The Jewish Sanhedrim, or national council, which consisted of a 
president called Nasi , a deputy, sub-deputy and seventy ordinary mem¬ 
bers. Their place of meeting was called The Pavement. The seventy 
sat in the form of a crescent, thirty-five on each side of the throne. In 
a.d. 32 the seventy were sent forth by Jesus to spread His mission. They 
were to go two by two, without purse, scrip or change of shoes, but were 
endowed with the power of working miracles. Seventy elders were 
appointed to assist Moses in the wilderness (Num. xi. 16, 17). 

Seven Wise Men is the.collective designation of a number of Greek 
sages, whose moral and social experience, according to the ancients, was 
embodied in certain brief aphorisms. Their names, as usually given, 
and their characteristic aphorisms are as follows: Solon of Athens — 
“ Nothing in excess ; ” Thales of Miletus— “Suretyship brings ruin ; ” 
Pittacus of Mitylene—“Know thine opportunity;’’ Bias ofPriene, in Caria 
—“Too many workers spoil the work.” Chilon of Sparta—“Know thy¬ 
self ; ” Cleobulus, tyrant of Lindus, in Rhodes—“Moderation is the chief 
good ; ” and Periander, tyrant of Corinth—“Forethought in all things.” 

Here is another of the curious ones : Multiply a number composed 
of the nine digits, 123,456,789, by 45, and the product is 5,555,555,505. 
Reverse the figures in the multiplier 54, and the product is 6,666,666,606. 
Reverse the multiplicand to 987,654,321), and multiply by 45, and the 
product is 44,444,444,445. Reverse the multiplier to 54, and tne pro¬ 
duct is 53,333,333,334. The first and last figures are the multiplier. 
Use half the multiplier or 27, and the product is 26,666,666,667. The 
first and last figures are the multiplier. Reverse the figures of the mul¬ 
tiplier to 72, and the product is 71,111,111,112, the first and last being the 
multiplier. 

FRANCE’S FATAL THREE. 

The fatal number to Rome has been six; and three has proved sin¬ 
gularly fatal to France. 

I. Take the kings. The third of any name has been uniformly either 
worthless or unlucky: Childebert III., Clotaire III., Clovis III., Dago- 
bert III., and Thierry III., were rois faineants. 

Childeric III, the last king of France of the first race, was confined 
in a cloister that Pepin le Bref might reign in his stead. 

Pepin le' Bref was the third Pepin: (1) Pepin de Landen; (2) Pepin 
d’Heristal, his grandson, and (3) Pepin le Bref, grandson of Pepin d’He- 
ristal, who was succeeded by the Carlovignian dynasty. 

Charles III., le Simple, was wholly under the thumb of favorites, and 
after a most inglorious reign was poisoned by the Comte de Vermandois. 

Henri 1II, le Mignon, “weaker than woman and worse than harlot” 
was assassinated by Jacques Clement. 

Louis Illy joint king with Carloman, reigned about a year and was 
killed by an accident at the age of twenty-two. 



MYSTIC LETTERS AND NUMBERS. 


317 


Philippe III., le Hardi, was singularly unfortunate, and singularly 
misnamed “The Bold.” This tool of Labrosse went on a crusade, and 
brought home the dead bodies of five near relatives: his father, his wife, 
his son, his brother, and his brother-in-law. The “Sicilian Vespers” 
occurred in his reign. He died of an epidemic at Perpignan. 

Napoleon III. lost his imperial crown at Sedan, and died in exile at 
Chiselliurst, in Kent. 

II. The succession of three brothers has always proved fatal. 

The Capetian dynasty terminated with the succession of three 
brothers: Louis X., Philippe V., and Charles IV. (sons of Philippe le Bel). 

The Valois line came to an end by the succession of three brothers: 
Francois II., Charles IX., and Henri III. (sons of Henri II.). 

The Bourbon dynasty terminated with the succession of three 
brothers: Louis XVI., Louis XVIII., and Charles X. (sons of Louis the 
Dauphin). 

III. The monarchy of France was brought to an end by the third of 
these triplets. 

The empire of France consisted of Napoleon I., Napoleon II., and 
Napoleon III. _ 

DATES OF THE SECOND EMPIRE. 

1. 1869, the last year of Napoleon’s glory; the next year was that o* 
his downfall. As a matter of curiosity, it may be observed that if the 
day of his birth, or the day of the empress’ birth, or the date of the capit¬ 
ulation of Paris be added to that of the coronation of Napoleon III., the 
result always points to 1869. Thus he was crowned in 1852; he was born 
in 1808; the empress Eugenie was born 1826; the capitulation of Paris was 
1871. Whence: 


1852 

l 

8 

0 

8 


birth of Napoleon. 


1852 
1 
8 
2 
6 


1852 

1 

O 

birth of Eugenie. ^ 
1 


coronation. 


capitulation of Paris. 


1853 
1 
8 
0 
8 


birth of Napoleon. 


1869 1869 1869 

2. 1870, the year of his downfall. By adding the numerical values of 
the birthdate either of Napoleon or Eugenie to the date of the marriage, 
we get their fatal year of 1870. Thus, Napoleon was born 1808; Eugenie, 
1826; married, 1853. 

1853 year of marriage. 

® (. birth of Eugdnie. 

6 ) 

1870 1870 

3. Empereur. The votes for the president to the emperor were 7,119,- 
791; those against him were 1,119,000. If, now, the numbers 711979r/l 119 
be written on a piece of paper, and held up to the light, the reverse side 
will show the word empereur. (The dash is the dividing mark, and 
forms the long stroke of the “p.”) 

THE APOCALYPTIC NUMBER. 

The mystical number 666, spoken of in the Book of Revelation (xiii. 
18) is called the apocalyptic number. Among the Greeks and Hebrews 
the letters of the alphabet were used to denote numbers. Hence such 



318 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


letters must be taken as will, when used as numbers, make up 666 (either 
in the Greek or Hebrew alphabet) as the letters of the name in question. 
The best solution of the riddle is “Neron Kesar,” the Hebrew form of the 
Latin “Nero Caesar. ’’ The vowels e and a are not expressed in the ancient 
Hebrew writing. The number represented by NeRON KeSaR would be 
666, thus: 

N R O N K S R 

50 + 200 + 6 + 50 + 100 + 60 + 200 = 666. 

Other interpretations were adopted in early times, as Antichrist and 
Lateinos , the latter being supposed to refer to the Roman empire, and 
even in more recent times being explained by Protestant controversialists 
of greater zeal than discretion, as a prophetic allusion to papal Rome'. 


THE FIVE WITS. 

An old and curious standard of mentality is that which credits man¬ 
kind with having “five wits:” common wit, imagination, fantasy, estima¬ 
tion, and memory. 

1. Common wit is that inward sense which judges what the five 
senses simply discern : thus the eye sees, the nose smells, the ear hears, 
and so on, but it is “ common wit ” that informs the brain and passes 
judgment on the goodness or badness of these external matters. 

2. Imagination w r orks on the mind, causing it to realize what has 
been presented to it. 

3. Fantasy energizes the mind to act in accordance with the judg¬ 
ment thus pronounced. 

4. Estimation decides on all matters pertaining to time, space, 
locality, relation, and so on. 

5. Memory enables the mind to retain the recollection of what has 
been imparted. 

THE SACRED NUMBER. 

Seven was frequently used as a mystical and symbolical number in 
the Bible, as well as among the principal nations of antiquity, the Per¬ 
sians, Indians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. The origin is doubtless 
astronomical, or rather astrological—viz. the observation of the seven 
planets and the phases of the moon, changing every seventh day. As 
instances of this number in the Old Testament, we find the Creation 
completed within seven days, whereof the seventh was a day of rest kept 
sacred. Every seventh year was sabbatical, and the seven times seventh 
year ushered in the jubilee year. The three Regalim , or Pilgrim fes¬ 
tivals (Passover, Festival of Weeks, and Tabernacles), lasted seven days; 
and between the first and second of these feasts were counted seven 
weeks. The first day of the seventh month was a “ Holy Convocation.” 
The Levitical purifications lasted seven days, and the same space of time 
was allotted to the celebration of weddings and the mourning for the dead. 
In innumerable instances in the Old Testament and later Jewdsh writings 
the number is used as a kind of round number. In the Apocalypse we 
have the churches, candlesticks, seals, stars, trumpets, spirits, all to the 
number of seven, and the seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb. The 
same number appears again either divided into half (S}4 years, Rev. xiii. 
5; xi. 3, xii. 6, etc.), or multiplied by ten—seventy Israelites go to 
Egypt, the exile lasts seventy years, there are seventy elders, and at a 
later period there are supposed to be seventy languages and seventy 




MYSTIC LETTERS AND NUMBERS. 


319 


nations upon earth. To go back to the earlier documents, we find in a 
similar way the dove sent out the second time seven days after her first 
mission, Pharaoh’s dream shows him twice seven kine, twice seven ears 
of corn, etc. 

The Seven Churches of Rev. i.-iii. are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, 
Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.—The Seven Deadly Sins 
are pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth.—The 
Seven Principal virtues are faith, hope, charity, prudence, temperance, 
chastity and fortitude.—The Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost are wisdom, 
understanding, counsel, ghostly strength or fortitude, knowledge, godli. 
ness and the fear of the Lord. 

Among the Greeks the seven was sacred to Apollo and to Dionysus, 
who, according to Orphic legends, was torn into seven pieces; and it 
was particularly sacred in Euboea, where the number was found to per¬ 
vade, as it were, almost every sacred, private or domestic relation. On 
the many ancient speculations which connected the number seven with 
the human body and the phases of its gradual development and forma¬ 
tion, its critical periods of sicknesses—partly still extant as supersti¬ 
tious notions—we cannot here dwell. The Pythagoreans made much 
of this number, giving it the name of Athene, Hermes, Hephais- 
tos, Heracles, the Virgin unbegotten and unbegetting (i.e. not to be 
obtained by multiplication), Dionysus, Rex, etc. Many usages show 
the importance attached to this number in the eyes not only of ancient 
but even of our own times, and it is hardly necessary to add that the same 
recurrence is found in the folklore of every race. 

Hippocrates (b.c. 460-357) divided the life of man into seven ages, a 
division adopted by Shakspeare. 

The Egyptian priests enjoined rest on the seventh day, because it 
was held to be a dies infaustus. In Egyptian astronomy there were 
seven planets, and hence seven days in the week, each day ruled by its 
own special planet. The people of'Peru had also a seven-day week. 

The Persians and Mexicans have a tradition of a flood from which 
seven persons saved themselves in a cave, and by whom the world was 
subsequently repeopled. 

The Seven Champions of Christendom are St. George for England, 
St Andrew for Scotland, St. Patrick for Ireland, St. David for Wales,, 
St. Denis for France, St. Janies for Spain, St. Anthony for Italy. 


LESSONS OF THE LETTERS. 

A popular magazine writer professes to have discovered that our 
lives would surely be happy, as well as useful and meritorious, if we 

were always careful to avoid: 

The incessant round of idle pleasures, which make life so—M. T. 
That undisciplined spirit, which carries everything to— X. S. 

Fixing our hearts upon aught that can know—D. K. 

Looking upon the possessions of others with—N. V. 

Exulting over a fallen—N. M. E. 

Shirking all the difficult duties of our state, and fulfilling only those 

that are—E. Z. . , , .. „ 

A haughty, repellant manner, which may be alphabetically de¬ 
scribed as—I. C. 

Encumbering our souls with faults which we shall, either here or 
hereafter, be required to—X. P. VIII. 



320 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 




That pride which leads us to refuse a work in which we are not sure 
we shall—X. L. 

That porcupine susceptibility which is irritated at—O. 

Discussing topics that cause the strings of social life to—G. R. 

Thinking that acquaintances have no good qualities, because at 
first sight we don’t—C. N. E. 

Being gloomy sometimes as though life were an—L. E. G. 

If our readers cannot make out all these maxims we confess we can¬ 
not—C. Y. _ 

A FEW CURIOUS ANAGRAMS. 

The anagram is a word or words formed by the transposition of the 
letters of a sentence or word: e.g., live becomes the Anagram evil. 
Anagrams were in use among the ancient Greeks, Romans, etc., and 
many that have been recorded are curiously suggestive. Following are 
a few of the historic anagrams: 

Charles James Stuart, (James I.) Claims Arthur's Seat. 

Dame Eleanor Davies (prophetess iu the reign of Charles I.) Never so mad a 
ladie. 

Horatio Nelson. Honor est a Nilo. 

Marie Touchet (mistress of Charles IX ). Je charme tout (made by Henri IV.) 

Pilate’s question, Quid est Veritas? Est vir qui adest. 

Sir Roger Charles Doughty Tichborne, Baronet. You horrid butcher , 
Orton biggest rascal here. 

Douglas Jerrold: Sure , a droll dog. 

Thomas Moore: Homo amor est. 

Edgar Allan Poe: A long peal , read. 

John Ruskin: No ink rush. 

United States: In te Deus stat. 

James Watt: Wait , steam. 

William Ewart Gladstone: A man to wield great wills. 

William Shakespeare: / ask me has Will a peer. 


THREE FOR A FINISH. 

The line of kings in England never exceeds three reigns without in¬ 
terruption or catastrophe. 

Wieeiam I., II., Henry I.— A usurper, Stephen. 

Henry II., Richard I.— A usurper, John. 

Henry III., Edward I.—Edward II. murdered. 

Edward III.—Richard II. deposed. 

Henry IV., V., VI.— Dine of Lancaster changed. 

Edward IV., V., Richard III.—Dynasty changed. 

Henry VII., VIII., Edward VI.—Lady Jane Grey. 

Mary, Elizabeth. —Dynasty changed. 

James I.—Charles I. beheaded. 

Charges II.—James II. dethroned. 

WiuiyiAM III., Anne. —Dynasty changed. 

George I., II., III.— Regency. 

George IV., Wiuuiam IV., Victoria.— Indirect successions. 
Except in one case, that of John, England has never had a great¬ 
grandchild as sovereign in direct descent. 


SEVEN SLEEPERS. 

The Seven Sleepers were the heroes of a celebrated legend, which is 
first related in the West by Gregory of Tours in the close of the sixth 
century, but the date of which is assigned to the third century, and at 





MYSTIC LETTERS AND NUMBERS. 


321 


the persecution of the Christians under Decius. According to the story, 
during the flight of the Christians from the persecution, seven Christians 
of Ephesus took refuge in a cave near the city, where they were discov¬ 
ered by their pursuers, who walled up the entrance in order to starve 
them to death. They fell instead into a preternatural sleep, in which 
they lay for nearly two hundred years. This is supposed to have taken 
place in 250 or 251; and it was not till the reign of Theodosius II. (447) 
that they awoke. They imagined that their sleep had been but of a 
single night; and one of the seven went secretly into the city to purchase 
provisions, and he was amazed to see the cross erected on the churches 
and other buildings. Offering a coin of Decius in a baker’s shop he was 
arrested, his startling story not being believed until he guided the citi¬ 
zens to the cavern where he had left his comrades. The emperor heard 
from their lips enough to convince him of the life beyond the grave of 
the dead, whereupon they sank again to sleep till the resurrection. Greg¬ 
ory explains that his story is of Syrian origin—it is widely current in 
the East, and was adopted by Mahommed, who even admits their dog 
Kitmer also into Paradise. The Roman Catholic Church holds their fest¬ 
ival on June 27. 


“I.” 

I am not in youth, nor in manhood or age, 

But in infancy ever am known, 

I’m a stranger alike to the fool and the sage, 

And though I’m distinguished on history’s page, 

I always am greatest alone. 

I’m not in the earth, nor the sun, nor the moon; 

You may search all the sky, I’m not there; 

In the morning and evening, though not in the noon, 
You may plainly perceive me, for, like a balloon, 

I am always suspended in air. 

Though disease may possess me, and sickness, and pain, 
I am never in sorrow or gloom, 

Though in wit and in wisdom I equally reign, 

I am the heart of all sin, and have long lived in vain, 

Yet I ne’er shall be found in the tomb. 


SOME “DUCKY” AND “UNDUCKY” NUMBERS. 

Harold’s day was October 14. It was his birthday, and also the day 
of his death. William the Conqueror was born on the same day, and, 
on October 14, 1066, won England by conquest. 

October 7, Rienzi’s foes yielded to his power. 

7 months Rienzi reigned as tribune. 

7 years he was absent in exile. 

7 weeks of return saw him without an enemy (October 7). 

7 was the number of the crowns the Roman convents and Roman 
council awarded him. 

It is said that it is unlucky for thirteen persons to sit down to din¬ 
ner at the same table, because one of the number will die before the 
year is out. This silly superstition is based on the “East Supper, ” when 
Christ and His twelve disciples sat at meat together. Jesus, of course, 
was crucified, and Judas Iscariot hanged himself. 

The 3rd September was considered by Oliver Cromwell to be his red- 
letter day. On 3rd September, 1650, he won the battle of Dunbar; on 
U. I.—21 




322 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


3rd September, 1651, he won the battle of Worcester; and on 3rd Sep¬ 
tember, 1658, he died. It is not, however, true that he was born on 3rd 
September, as many affirm, for his birthday was 25th April, 1599. 

In British dynasties two has been an unlucky number; thus: Etli- 
elred II. was forced to abdicate; Harold II. was slain at Hastings; Will¬ 
iam II. was shot in the New Forest; Henry II. had to fight for his 
crown, which was usurped by Stephen; Edward II. was murdered at 
Berkeley Castle; Richard II. was deposed; Charles II. was driven into 
exile; James II. was obliged to abdicate; George II. was worsted at 
Fontenoy and Eawfeld, was disgraced by General Braddock and Admiral 
Byng, and was troubled by Charles Edward, the Young Pretender. 

‘ ‘Five, ’ ’ says Pythagoras, ‘ ‘has peculiar force in expiations. It is every¬ 
thing. It stops the power of poisons, and is redoubted by evil spirits. 
Unity, or the monad, is Deity, or the first cause of all things —good 
principle. Two, or the dyad , is the symbol of diversity—the evil prin¬ 
ciple. Three, or the triad, contains the mystery of mysteries, for every¬ 
thing is composed of three substances. It represents God, the soul of 
the world, and the spirit of man. Five is 2 + 3, or the combination of 
the first of the equals and the first of the unequals; hence also the com¬ 
bination of the good and evil powers of nature.” 


The number fourteen plays a very conspicuous part in French his¬ 
tory, especially in the reigns of Henry IV. and Eouis XIV. For ex¬ 
ample: 

14th May, 1029, the. first Henri was consecrated, and 14th May, 1610 the last Henri 
was assassinated. 

14 letters compose the name of Henri di Bourbon , the 14th king of France and 
NsvErrc, 

14th December, 1553 (14 centuries , 14 decades and 14 years from the birth of Chn\t\ 
Henri IV. was born, and 1553 added together = 14. J J Lflt tst) > 

14th May, 1554, Henri II. ordered the enlargement of the Rue de la FerrormeHp 
This order was earned out, and 4 times 14 years later Henri IV. was assassinated ther- 

14th May, 1552, was the birth of Margaret de Valois, first wife of Henri IV 
Henride^ui’se 588, the Parisians revolted against Henri III., under the leadership of 

14th March, 1590, Henri IV. gained the battle of Ivry. 

14th May, 1590, Henri IV. was repulsed from the faubourgs of Paris 

14th November, 1590, “The Sixteen” took oath to die rather than serve the Hueuenot 
king, Henri IV. BUCUUL 

14th November, 1592, the Paris parlement registered the papal bull which excluded 
Henri IV. from reigning. * wuuaea 

14th December, 1599, the duke of Savoy was reconciled to Henri IV 

14th September, 1606, the dauphin (Douis XIII.), sou of Henri IV.,‘was baptized 

The second of the month was Louis Napoleon’s day It was also 
one of the days of his uncle, the other being the fifteenth 

The coup d'ttat was December 2; he was made emperor December 2 
1852; the Franco-Prussian war opened at Saarbriick, August 2 1870- he 
surrendered his sword to William of Prussia September 2 1870 

Napoleon I. was crowned December H, 1804; and the Victory of Aus- 
terlitz was December 2, 1805. J 


THE VOWELS. 

We are little airy creatures, 

All of different voice and features- 
One of us in glass is set, 

One of us you’ll find in jet, 
T’other you may see in tin. 

And the fourth a box within, 

If the fifth you should pursue, 

It can never fly from you. 



MYSTIC LETTERS AND NUMBERS. 


323 


MASTERPIECES OF ALLITERATION. 

The frequent recurrence of words beginning with the same letters is 
called alliteration. • A good example of its use is to be found in that 
famous couplet of Churchill’s: 

Who often, but without success, had prayed 
For apt alliteration’s artful aid. 

The Siege of Belgrade, claimed for Alaric A. Watts, is probably the 
best-known alliterative poem in the English language: 

An Austrian army, awfully arrayed, 

Boldly by battery, besieged Belgrade. 

Cossack commanders, cannonading come, 

Dealing destruction’s devastating doom; 

Every endeavor, engineers essay 

For fame, for fortune, forming furious fray. 

Gaunt gunners grapple, giving gashes good 
Heaves high his head heroic hardihood. 

Ibraham, Islam, Ismael, imps in ill, 

Jostle John Jarovlitz, Jem, Joe, Jack, Jill; 

Kick kindling Kutusoff, king’s kinsman kill; 

Tabor low levels loftiest longest lines; 

Men march ’mid moles, ’mid mounds, ’mid murderous mines. 

Now nightfall’s nigh, now needful nature nods. 

Opposed, opposing, overcoming odds. 

Poor peasants, partly purchased, partly pressed, 

Quite quaking, “Quarter! Quarter! ” quickly quest. 

Reason returns, recalls redundant rage, 

Saves sinking soldiers, softens signiors sage. 

Truce, Turkey, truce! truce, treacherous Tartar train! 

Unwise, unjust, unmerciful Ukraine! 

Vanish, vile vengeance! vanish, victory vain! 

Wisdom wails war—wails warring words. What were 
Xesxes, Xantippg, Ximen£s, Xavier? 

Yet yassy’s youth, ye yield your youthful yest. 

Zealously, zanies, zealously zeal’s zest. 

Tusser has a poem on “ Thriftiness,” twelve lines in length, and in 
rhyme, every -word of which begins with t (died 1580). Leon Placentius, 
a dominican, wrote a poem in Latin hexameters, called Pugna Porcorum, 
253 stanzas long, every word of which begins with p (died 1548). 

Here’s another antique specimen : 

The thrifty that teacheth the thriving to thrive, 

Teach timely to traverse, the thing that thou ’trive, 

Transferring thy toiling, to timeliness taught, 

This teacheth thee temp’rance, to temper thy thought. 

Take Trusty (to trust to) that thiukest to thee. 

That trustily thriftiness, trowleth to thee. 

Then temper thy travell, to tarry the tide; 

This teacheth thee thriftiness, twenty times tryed. 

Take thankful thy talent, thank thankfully those 
That thriftily teacheth [? teach thee'] thy time to transpose. 

Troth twice to be teached, teach twenty times ten, 

This trade that thou takest, take thrift to thee then. 


EASY SUMS IN ARITHMETIC. 

Take 15. Multiply that by itself, then multiply the product by it¬ 
self and proceed until you have thus multiplied 15 products in turn.—It 
has been said that it will take twenty-five years to solve this problem. 

“If a goose weighs ten pounds and half its own weight, what is the 
weight of the goose ?” 

“A snail climbing up a post twenty feet high ascends five feet every 
day and slips down four feet every night; how long will the snail take 
to reach the top of the post?” 



324 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORM A TION 


‘A wise man having a window one yard high and one yard wide, 
requiring more light, enlarged his window to twice its former size; yet 
the window w r as still only one yard high and one yard wide. How was 
this done ?” 

All the products of nine in the multiplication come to nine. Try it. 

“Take any row of figures, and reversing their order, make a sub¬ 
traction” of the latter from the former, “add up the digits of the re¬ 
mainder and the result wall be nine.” 


HONORS TO FORTY. 

The number forty is very prominent in Bible and Church history: 

1. It rained forty days and forty nights in the Flood.— Gen. vii. 12. 

2. Moses twice fasted for forty days and forty nights.— Exod. xxiv. 18, etc. 

3. The spies sent to Canaan were forty days in searching the land.— Num. xiii. 35. 

4. The Israelites wandered forty years in the wilderness.— Ps. xcv. 10. 

5. Goliath defied the armies of Saul for forty days.—1 Sam. xvii. 16. 

6. Elijah fasted forty days.—1 Kings xix. 8. 

7. Ezekiel bore the iniquities of the house of Jacob forty days, a day for a year. 

8. Jonah cried to the Ninevites,“Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” 
— Jonah iii. 4. 

9. Jesus fasted and was tempted forty days in the wilderness.— Matt. iv. 2. 

10. Jesus tarried on earth forty days after his resurrection.— Acts i. 3. 

11. Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus forty year9 after the Ascension. 

12. According to Church tradition, Jesus was forty hours in the tomb. 

13. The Eenten Fast continues for forty days, from Ash Wednesday to Easter 
Sunday 

And there are others. 


“H.” 

’Twas whispered in heaven, ’twas muttered in hell, 
And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell; 

On the confines of earth ’twas permitted to rest, 

And the depths of the ocean its presence confessed; 
’Twill be found in the sphere when ’tis riven asunder, 
Be seen in the lightning, and heard in the thunder. 
’Twas allotted to man with his earliest breath, 

It assists at his birth and attends him in death, 
Presides o’er his happiness, honor, and health, 

Is the prop of his house and the end of his wealth, 

In the heaps of the miser ’tis hoarded with care, 

But is sure to be lost in his prodigal heir. 

It begins every hope, every wish it must bound, 

It prays with the hermit, with monarchs is crowned; 
Without it the soldier, the sailor, may roam, 

But woe to the wretch who expels it from home. 

In the whisper of conscience ’tis sure to be found, 

Nor e’en in the whirlwind of passion is drowned; 
’Twill soften the heart, but, though deaf to the ear, 

It will make it acutely and instantly hear; 

But in short, let it rest like a delicate flower. 

Oh, breathe on it softly, it dies in an hour. 


CURIOUS MISNOMERS. 

Arabic figures were not invented by the Arabs, but by the early schol¬ 
ars of India. 

Cleopatra’s needles were not erected by that Queen, neither do they 
commemorate any event in her history. They were set up by Rameses 
the Great. 

The Jerusalem artichoke has no connection whatever with the holy 
city of the Jews. It is a species of sunflower, and gets its name from 
girasole, one of the scientific names of that genus of plants. 





MYSTIC LETTERS AND NUMBERS. 


325 


The word “pen ” means a feather and is from the Latin penna, a 
wing. Surely the expression “a steel pen” could be improved upon. 

Galvanized iron is not galvanized at all, but is coated with zinc by 
being plunged into a bath of that metal and muriatic acid. 

Pompey’s pillar at Alexandria was neither erected by Pompey nor 
to his memory. 

Common table salt is not a salt and has long since been excluded 
from the class of bodies denominated “salts.” 

Rice paper is not made from either rice or straw, but from a pithy 
plant called tungtsua, found in China, Corea and Japan. 

Brazil grass neither comes from nor grows in Brazil. It is strips 
from a species of Cuban palm. 

DESTINY OF THE STUARTS. 

James III. was killed in flight near Bannockburn, 1488. 

Mary Stuart was beheaded 1588 (New Style). 

James II. of England was dethroned 1688. 

Charles Edward died 1788. 

*** James Stuart, the “Old Pretender,” w T as born 1688, the very 
year that his father abdicated. 

James Stuart, the famous architect, died 1788. 

(Some affirm that Robert II., the first Stuart king, died 1388, the 
year of the great battle of Otterburn; but the death of this king is more 
usually fixed in the spring of 1390.) 


THE LETTER M. 

M is said to represent the human face without the two eyes. By 
adding these, we get O m O, the Latin homo , “ man.” Dante, speaking 
of faces gaunt with starvation, says: 

Who reads the name 
For man upon his forehead, there the M 
Had traced most plainly. 

This letter has been very curiously coupled with Napoleon I., and it 
is interesting to note its relation to Napoleon III.: 

MacMahon, duke of Magenta, his most distinguished marshal, and, after a few 
months, succeeded him as ruler of France (1873-1879). 

Malakoff (Duke of), next to MacMahon his most distinguished marshal. 

Maria of Portugal was the lady his friends wanted him to marry, but he refused to 
do so. 

Maximilian and Mexico, his evil stars (1864-1867). 

Menschikoff was the Russian general defeated at the battle of the Alma (Septem¬ 
ber 20, 1854). 

Michaud, Mignet, Michelet and Merimee were distinguished historians in the 
reign of Napoleon III. 

Moltke was his destiny. 

Montholon was one of his companions in the escapade at Boulogne, and was con¬ 
demned to imprisonment for twenty years. 

Monti jo (Countess of ), his wife. Her name is Marie Eugenie, and his son was born 
in March; so was the son of Napoleon I. 

Morny, his greatest friend. 

Magenta, a victory won by him (June 4, 1859). 

Malakoff. Taking the Malakoff tower and the Mamelon-vert were the great ex¬ 
ploits of the Crimean war (September 8, 1855). 

Mamelon-vert. (See above.) 

Mantua. He turned back before the walls of Mantua after the battle of the Mincio. 

Marengo. Here he planned his first battle of the Italian campaign, but it was not 
fought till after those of Montebello and Magenta. 

Marignano. He drove the Austrians out of this place. 

Metz, the “ maiden fortress,” was one of the most important sieges and losses to him 
in the Franco-Prussian war. 




326 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Milan. He made his entrance into Milan, and drove the Austrians out of Marignano. 
Mincio (The battle of the), called also Solferino, a great victory. Having won this, he 
turned back at the walls of Mantua (June 24, 1859). 

Montebello, a victory won by him (June, 1859). 

*** The Mitrailleuse was to win him Prussia, but it lost him France. 

March. In this month his sou was born; he was deposed by the National Assembly, 
and was set at liberty by the Prussians. The treaty of Paris was March 30, 1856. 
Savoy and Nice were annexed in March, 1860. 

May. In this month he made his escape from Ham. The great French Exhibition 
was opened in May, 1855. 

By far his best publication is his “Manual of Artillery.” 


TRY IT AND THEN EXPLAIN. 

Take any printed book and open its pages at random, and select a 
word within the first ten lines, and within the tenth word from the end 
of the line. Mark the word. Now double the number of the page, and 
multiply the sum by 5. 

Then add 20. 

Then add the number of the line you have selected. 

Then add 5. 

Multiply the sum by 10. 

Add the number of the word in the line. From this sum subtract 
250, and the remainder will indicate in the unit column the number of 
the word ; in the ten column the number of the line, and the remaining 
figures the number of the page. 


THREE TIMES THREE. 

A wonder is said to last three times three days. The scourge used 
for criminals is a “cat o’ nine tails.” Possession is nine points of the 
law, being equal to (1) money to make good a claim, (2) patience to carry 
a suit through, (3) a good cause, (4) a good lawyer, (5) a good counsel, 
(6) good witnesses, (7) a good jury, (8) a good judge, (91 good luck. 
Leases used to be granted for 999 years. Ordeals by fire consisted of 
three times three red-hot ploughshares. 

There are three times three crowns recognized in heraldry, and three 
times three marks of cadency. 

We show honor by a three times three in drinking a health. 

The worthies are three Jews, three pagans and three Christians: 
viz.: Joshua, David and Judas Maccabaeus; Hector, Alexander, and 
Julius Caesar; Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon. 

It is by nines that Eastern presents are given, when the Orientals 
would extend their magnificence to the highest degree. 

The Etruscans of old believed in the omnipotence of nine gods, viz.: 
Juno, Minerva and Tinia (the three chief). The other six were Vulcan, 
Mars, Saturn, Hercules, Summanus and Vedius. Thus: 

Bars Porsena of Clusium, 

By the nine gods he swore 

That the great house ot Tarquin 
Should suffer wrong no more. 

By the nine gods he swore it, 

And named a trysting day. . . . 

To summon his array. 

—Macaulay, Lays of Ancient Rome. 




FAMOUS PERSONS AND PLACES. 


Why then doth flesh, a bubble-glass of breath, 

Hunt after honor and advancement vain, 

And rear a trophy for devouring death, 

With so great labor and long-lasting pain— 

As if life’s days forever should remain? 

—Spenser. 

NAMES THAT ARE NOTED. 

Cathay was the ancient name for China. 

Twickenham is famous as the home of Pope. 

The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican was built in 1473. 

Andrew Jackson rode to his inauguration on horseback. 

London wall defines the old boundary of Roman London. 

The tide in the Bay of Fundy often rises as high as seventy feet. 

The largest cavern in the world is the Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, alone, is left of the great American poets. 

Leland Stanford will be famous for the noble university he founded. 

J. C. Flood, the California millionaire, kept a saloon in San Fran¬ 
cisco. 

P. T. Barnum earned a salary as bartender in Niblo’s Theatre, New 
York. 

Miller (Hugh) taught himself geology while working as a mason 
(1802-1856). 

The most extensive park is Deer Park in Denmark. It contains 
4,200 acres. 

Jay Gould canvassed Delaware County, New York, selling maps at 
$1.50 apiece. 

Chicago is little more than fifty years old, and is the eighteenth city 
of the world. 

Fleet Street, London, was once a swift-flowing stream—now converted 
into a sewer. 

The deepest rock salt bore in the world is near Berlin, Prussia ; it is 
4,185 feet deep. 

The Italian for “beautiful view,’’ is belvedere , and is applied to a 
part of the Vatican in Rome, which gives its name to the famous statue 
of Apollo. 

r 327 



328 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION 


Bunyan wrote his “ Pilgrim’s Progress” while confined in Bedford 
jail (1628-1688). 

Cobbett learned grammar in the waste time of his service as a common 
soldier (1762-1835). 

Alfred the Great founded Oxford University and Charlemagne the 
University of Paris. 

Bloomfield composed “The Farmer’s Boy” in the intervals of shoe¬ 
making (1766-1823). 

Whitelaw Reid did work a*fe correspondent of a Cincinnati newspaper 
for five dollars a week. 

George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, was an errand boy for a book¬ 
seller at six dollars a month. 

The largest park in the United States is Fairmount, at Philadelphia, 
and contains 2,740 acres. 

Adam Forepaugh was a butcher m Philadelphia when he decided to 
go into the show business. 

It was in Kiev that Christianity was first planted in Russia. Here 
is the cathedral of St. Sophia. 

The original inhabitants of Wales were the Cymri, from whom the 
country was named Cambria. 

With different environment the same spirit governed those typical 
Americans, Curtis and Whittier. 

The deepest coal mine in the world is near Tournai, Belgium ; it is 
3,542 feet in perpendicular depth. 

The deepest hole ever bored into the earth is the artesian well at 
Potsdam, which is 5,500 feet deep. 

Ferguson taught himself astronomy while tending sheep in the serv¬ 
ice of a Scotch farmer (1710-1*776). . 

Etty utilized indefatigably every spare moment he could pick up 
when a journeyman printer (1787-1849). 

Andrew Carnegie, the iron master, did his first work in a Pittsburg 
telegraph office at three dollars a week. 

The deepest coal mines in England are the Dunkirk collieries of 
Lancashire, which are 2,824 feet in depth. 

The “ Man With the Iron Mask” did not wear a mask of iron. It 
was of black velvet, secured by steel springs. 

The highest inhabited place in the world is the custom-house of 
Ancomarca in Peru, 16,000 feet above the sea. 

The foremost American critic of today—Edmund Clarence Stedman 
—is a banker, who makes literary work his pastime. 

The highest natural bridge in the world is at Rockbridge, Virginia, 
being two hundred feet high to the bottom of the arch. 

The largest empire in the world is that of Great Britain, being 8,557,- 
658 square miles, and more than a sixth part of the globe. 

Golden Lane, St. Luke’s, London, received its name from the large 
number of goldsmiths who at one time lived in that vicinity. 

Baumann’s cavern in the Harz Mountains consists of six principal 
and many smaller compartments full of beautiful stalactites. 


FAMOUS PERSONS AND PLACES. 


329 


The “Weeping Philosopher” was Heraclitus of Ephesus; while 
Democritus of Abdera was called the “Laughing Philosopher.” 

The longest tunnel in the world is St. Gothard, on the line of the 
railroad between Lucerne and Milan, being 9% miles in length. 

The daughter of the Duke of Kent and wife of the Black Prince—on 
account of her great beauty was called “The Fair Maid of Kent.” 

The most remarkable echo known is that in the castle of Simonetta, 
two miles from Milan. It repeats the echo of a pistol sixty times. 

Franklin, while working as a journeyman printer, produced his 
“Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain” (1706-1790). 

The loftiest active volcano is Popocatapetl. It is 17,784 feet high, 
and has a crater three miles in circumference and one thousand feet deep. 

Carey, the missionary and Oriental translator, learned the rudiments 
of Eastern languages while employed in making and mending shoes 
(1761-1834). 

The Bridge of Sighs at Venice has no romance worthy the name. 
Most of the unfortunates who cross it are petty thieves who are sent to 
the workhouse. 

Thunderstorms are more frequent in Java than in any other part of 
the world, there being an average of ninety-seven days in each year upon 
which they occur. 

Chiswick is the home of William Morris, poet and aesthete, and is 
famous for its market-gardens and as the seat of the gardens of the Hor¬ 
ticultural Society. 

The electric railway has penetrated even the fastnesses of the Tyro¬ 
lese mountains, a road twenty-seven miles long being projected between 
Riva and Pinzolo. 

In Bengal, India, there are three harvests reaped every year, peas 
and oil seeds in April, the early rice crop in September and the great rice 
crop in December. 

The maelstrom is not a whirlpool which sucks ships down into the 
depths of the ocean. It is an eddy which in fair weather can be crossed 
in safety by any vessel. 

The city of Amsterdam, Holland, is built upon piles driven into 
the ground. It is intersected by numerous canals, crossed by nearly 
three hundred bridges. 

The deepest perpendicular mining shaft in the world is located at 
Prizilrain, Bohemia. It is a lead mine ; it was begun in 1832. In Jan¬ 
uary, 1880, it was 3,280 feet deep. 

Isabella of France, wife of Edward II. of England, murdered her 
husband by thrusting a red hot iron into his bowels, and so earned the 
title, “The She-Wolf of France.” 

Donnybrook, a former village and parish, now mostly embraced in 
the borough of Dublin, was at one time celebrated for a fair notorious 
for fighting, which was abolished in 1855. 

The first circumnavigator was Magellan, a Portuguese, who sailed 
round the world in three years and twenty-nine days starting in 1519. 
Amongst others were Sir Francis Drake (1577), Cook (1708), Carteret 
(1766,) and Belcher (1836). 


330 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORM A TION 


The deepest silver mine in the United States is the Yellow Jacket, 
one of the great Comstock system at Virginia City, Nev. The lower 
levels are 2,700 feet below the hoisting works. 

John Adams was eight years older than Jefferson. Jefferson was 
eight years older than Madison. Madison was eight years older than 
Monroe. Monroe was eight years older than J. Q. Adams. 

Hong Kong, formerly a little barren island at the mouth of the Can¬ 
ton river, in China, was given to the English and is now covered with 
the warehouses, gardens and residences of wealthy merchants. 

The deepest coal shaft in the United States is located at Pottsville, 
Pa. In 1890 it had reached a depth of 1,576 feet. From this great 
depth four hundred cars, holding four tons each, are hoisted daily. 

There is an unknown quantity of silver in the bay of Rio de Janeiro, 
Brazil; a silver mine, in fact, of comparatively speaking unlimited dimen¬ 
sions, and every ship that drops anchor there cuts into the bed of ore. 

Gretna Green is a village in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and the place 
where, for nearly a century, runaway couples were made man and wife. 
These irregular marriages were discountenanced by law in the year 1856. 

Charing Cross was originally a London suburb, where was erected 
the last of the crosses in memory of Eleanor, Queen of Edward I. The 
cross was destroyed in 1647 but a new one was placed on the spot in 1865. 

The Bridge of Sighs is the Bridge in Venice which connects the pal¬ 
ace of the doge with the State prison, and was so called because over it 
prisoners were conveyed from the judgment hall to the place of execu¬ 
tion. 

The Maelstrom is a whirlpool, or more correctly current, between the 
islands of Mosken and Moskenas, two of the Lofoden Isles, which is dan¬ 
gerous when wind and tide are contrary. Its sound is heard for several 
miles. 

A remarkable rock formation is located on a high peak of mountain 
about five miles from Agua Caliente, in Arizona. The rock, which 
measures 300 feet high, is shaped like a barrel and can be seen for miles 
distant. 

The famous chief Black Hawk, of the Sac and Fox Indians, was 
born in 1767. He joined the British in 1812, and opposing the removal 
west of his tribe, fought against the United States in 1831-32. He died 
in 1838. 

Clement (Joseph) son of a poor weaver, was brought up as a thatcher, 
but, by utilizing his waste moments in self-education and work of skill, 
raised himself to a position of great note, giving employment to thirty 
workmen (1779-1844). 

The Champ de Mars is an open space in Paris, surrounded by arti¬ 
ficial embankments. The Franks held their annual assemblies here in 
the month of March, Mars. Here a constitution was sworn to before 
Napoleon I., May 1, 1805, and other noted gatherings were held on the 
spot. 

The cinque ports were the five great English ports on the coast of 
Kent and Sussex lying opposite to France—Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, 
Romney and Hastings. They were of high importance in Anglo-Saxon 
times and were made a separate jurisdiction, for insular defence, by 
William I. 3 


FAMOUS PERSONS AND PLACES. 


331 


The city of Ghent, Belgium, stands on 26 islands, connected with 
each other by 80 bridges. The city of Venice is built on 80 islands, con¬ 
nected by nearly 400 bridges. In Venice canals serve for streets and 
gondolas for carriages. 

“Vaticanus Mons” is a hill at Rome, chiefly noted for its magnifi¬ 
cent palace of the popes, the Vatican, with its superb gardens, its mu¬ 
seums, celebrated library, and basilica of St. Peter. The palace was 
constructed in 498, but has been often enlarged. 

How Anglesey obtained its name is quaintly told by the ‘ ‘chronicler’ ’: 
Edwin King of Northumberland, “warred with them that dwelt in the 
Isle of Mona, and they became his servants, and the island was no longer 
called Mona, but Anglesey, the isle of the English.’’ 

Thomas Chatterton, “the marvelous boy,’’ was a literary impostor. 
He began in 1768 to produce poems which he pretended to be from the 
pen of Thomas Rowley, a monk of the fifteenth century. Chatterton 
was born at Bristol, and committed suicide (1752-1771). 

Chillon is a celebrated castle of Switzerland, at the eastern end of 
the Lake of Geneva. It stands on an isolated rock, and long served as a 
state prison. Here for six years (1530-36) Bonnivard endured the captiv¬ 
ity immortalized by Byron’s “Prisoner of Chillon” (1821). 

Calaveras Grove in California is noted for its immense trees. Of 
92 redwood trees there are 10 over 30 feet in diameter, and 82 have a 
diameter of from 15 to 30 feet. Their ages are estimated at from 1000 
to 3500 years. Their height ranges from 150 to 237 feet. 

A famous old ruin is Blarney Castle, near Cork, Ireland, in the wall of 
which is a stone, difficult of access, that is said to endow the one kissing 
it with the power of cajolery. In general Blarney is a colloquial term 
applied to any smooth and excessively complimentary talk. 

Haroun-al-Raschid, the caliph of the Abbasside race, was contem¬ 
porary with Charlemagne, and, like him, a patron of literature and the 
arts. The court of this caliph was most splendid, and under him the 
caliphate attained its greatest degree of prosperity (765-809). 

There is a point near the famous Stony cave, in the Catskill moun¬ 
tains, where ice may be found on any day in the year. This locality is 
locally known as the Notch, and is walled in on all sides by steep moun¬ 
tains, some of which are more than three thousand feet high. 

In Hawaii, one of the Sandwich islands, there is a spot called the 
Rock of Refuge. If a criminal reaches this rock before capture he is safe 
so long as he remains there. Usually his family supply him with food 
until he is able to make his escape, but he is never allowed to return to 
his own tribe. 

The “Iron Chancellor” was the name applied to Prince Otto von 
Bismarck, of Prussia (1813), Chancellor of the North German Confedera¬ 
tion, July 14, 1867. He retired from public life in 1890. He was also 
known as “The Man of Blood and Iron,” from an expression in one of 
his speeches. 

Mount Vernon, memorable as the residence and the burial-place 
of George Washington, is on the right bank of the Potomac, in Vir¬ 
ginia, fifteen miles below Washington. In 1856 the mansion and 
surrounding property were saved from the auctioneer’s hammer and 
secured as a national possession. 


332 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The island of St. Helena, where Napoleon was held a prisoner, has 
an area of forty-seven square miles. Its population is more than 4,000, 
but 200 emigrants leave it annually. The whale fisheries there are under 
American management and amount to about $90,000 a year. 

The Lunatic oil spring of Wheeler Canyon, Cal., at the time of a 
new moon begins to flow oil. When the moon is at its full the spring 
yields three barrels of oil a day. The quantity decreases .with the waning 
of the moon, and ceases when the moon’s last quarter is past. 

Among the noted pseudonyms of history Cid Campeador is the name," 
or rather names, by which the most renowed Spanish warrior of the 
eleventh century is best known. He was a Castilian noble, whose real 
name was Rodrigo, and was ancester of the royal house of Castile. 

Covent Garden, originally the garden of the Abbot of Westminster, 
is a spacious square in London, celebrated for a great market held within 
it of fruit, vegetables and flowers. The square was formed about 1631 
and is famous from its connection with the modern history of London. 

The covered passage-way which connects the palace of the doge in 
Venice with the State prisons has been called “the Bridge of Sighs,” 
because the condemned passed over it from the judgment hall to the 
place of execution. Hood has a poem called “ The Bridge of Sighs.” 

Delft, one of the most ancient towns of South Holland, is situated 
on the Schie, eight miles NW. of Rotterdam by rail, and is intersected by 
numerous canals. Delft was noted from the sixteenth to the eighteenth 
century for its delft-ware, but has now entirely lost its high reputation 
for this manufacture. 

Threadneedle street, in the city of London, got its name from the 
Merchant Tailors’ Company, whose present hall is built on an estate 
acquired by them as early as 1331. It leads from Bishopsgate street to 
the Bank of England, which hence is often called the “Old Lady in 
Threadneedle Street.” 

Abydos is a town of Asia Minor, situated on the Hellespont. Tradi¬ 
tion places here the story of Hero and Leander; history tells that this 
was where Xerxes led his vast army over the Hellespont on a bridge of 
boats; and Byron here swam the Hellespont and rendered it ever famous 
by his “Bride of Abydos.” 

D’Aguesseau, the great French chancellor, observing that Mme. 
D’Aguesseau always delayed ten or twelve minutes before she came down 
to dinner, began and completed a learned book of three volumes (large 
quarto) solely during these “waste minutes.” This work went through 
several editions (1668-1751). 

The Straits of Babelmandeb, the passage from the Persian Gulf into 
the Red Sea, are called the Gate of Tears by the Arabs. The channel is 
only about twenty miles wide, is rocky and very dangerous for passage 
in rough weather. It received its melancholy name from the number of 
shipwrecks that occurred there. 

Spanish Main (i.e., main-land ), a name given to the north coast of 
South America, from the Orinoco to Darien, and to the shores of the 
former Central American provinces of Spain contiguous to the Caribbean 
Sea. The name, however, is often popularly applied to the Caribbean 
Sea itself, and in this sense occurs frequently in connection with the 
buccaneers. 


FAMOUS PERSONS AND PLACES. 


333 


The convivial Toby Fillpot was a thirsty old soul, who “among jolly 
topers bore off the bell.” It chanced as in dog-days he sat boosing in 
his arbor, that he died “full as big as a Dorchester butt,” His body 
turned to clay, and out of the clay a brown jug was made, sacred to 
friendship, mirth, and mild ale. 

Charles XII. of Sweden (1697-1710) was known as the “brilliant 
madman.” He compelled the Danes to make peace, dethroned the 
king of Poland and waged war with Russia for a time with success; but, 
being defeated by Czar Peter the Great at Pultowa, Sweden fell from her 
high estate as a first-class power. 

The Falls of Niagara eat back the cliff at the rate of about one foot 
a year. In this way a deep cleft has been cut right back from Queens¬ 
town^ for a distance of seven miles, to the place where the falls now are. 
At this rate it has taken more than thirty-five thousand years for that 
channel of seven miles to be made. 

The most extensive mines in the world are those of Freyburg, 
Saxony. They were begun in the twelfth century, and in 1835 the gall¬ 
eries, taken collectively, had reached the unprecedented length of 123 
miles. A new gallery, begun in 1838, had reached a length of eight 
miles at the time of the census of 1878. 

The Vendome Column in Paris was erected by Napoleon I. (1806), 
in the Place Vendome, to commemorate his successful campaign in 
Germany; pulled down by the Communists (1871), but restored by the 
National Assembly (1874). It is one hundred and thirty-two feet high, 
with a statue of Napoleon I. at the top. 

The Alhambra is a palace and fortress of the Moors, founded about 
1253 by Mohammed I. Celebrated as the palace of the kings of Granada, 
its two courts, that of the Myrtles and that of the Dions, are beautiful 
examples of Arabian art in Spain. The Alhambra was surrendered to 
the Christians by the Moors about 1491. 

In 1818, Captain John Cleves Symmes propounded the theory that 
the earth is a hollow sphere, habitable within, and open at the poles for 
the admission of light, containing within six or seven concentric hollow 
spheres, also open at the poles. This theory in ridicule has always been 
spoken of as Symmes’ or Symmes’s Hole. 

Burritt (Elihu) made himself acquainted with ten languages while 
plying his trade as a village blacksmith (Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Spanish, 
Bohemian, Polish, Danish, Persian, Turkish and Ethiopic). His father 
was a village cobbler, and Elihu had only six months’ education, and 
that at the school of his brother (1811-1879). 

The Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill, London, is composed of the 
greater part of the buildings used for the Great Exhibition of 1851. It 
was opened by the Queen, June 10, 1854. There is another crystal 
palace in New York City which was erected on Reservoir Square, July 14, 
1853, as a universal industrial exhibition. This was destroyed by fire 
October 5, 1858. 

The famous French stronghold, the Bastille, was originally built by 
Charles V. as a chateau, in 1369. The high wall around it was subse¬ 
quently erected by Philippe-Auguste. Louis XI. first used it as a State 
prison, and it was eventually demolished by the people during the Revo¬ 
lution, July 14, 1789. The “Man in the Iron Mask” was imprisoned 
there, and died in 1703. 


334 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORM A TION. 


The Rubicon is a -river of Italy, flowing into the Adriatic, which 
formed the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and Italy proper. The pas¬ 
sage of this river by Julius Caesar was necessarily the signal for civil war, 
the issue of which could not be foreseen, as Roman generals were forbid¬ 
den to cross this river at the head of an army. 

The Smithsonian Institution is the name of a celebrated Institution in 
Washington, D. C., founded (184G) for the encouragement of scientific 
research and the diffusion of scientific knowledge, under the will of 
James Smithson (natural son of the third Duke of Northumberland), 
who bequeathed over $500,000 for this purpose. 

The highest summit of the Harz mountains in Prussian Saxony is 
called the Brocken. It occupies an important place in the folklore of 
North Germany. Here annually assemble the witches on Walpurgis 
night to hold their revels on its summit. It is also interesting for the 
phenomenon known as the “Spectre of the Brocken.” 

Corso is an Italian word used to express not only the racing of rider¬ 
less horses, but also the slow driving in procession of handsome equip¬ 
ages through the principal streets of a town, such as almost always takes 
place in Italy on festivals. Hence the name has been applied to many 
such Italian thoroughfares, notably the Corso in Rome. 

The population of Chicago in 1830, was 70; 1840, 4,853; 1845, 12 088* 
1850, 29,963; 1855, 60,227; 1860, 112,172; 1865, 178,900; 1870, 298,977*1872’ 
364,377; 1880,503,185; 1884 (estimated), 675,000; 1885 (estimated),’727,- 
000; 1886 (estimated), 750,000; 1887 (estimated), 760,000; 1889 (estimated) 
1,000,000; 1890, 1,099,133; 1892 (school census), 1,438,010. 

The Ghetto is the Jews’ quarter in Italian cities, to which they used 
to be strictly confined. The ghetto of Rome, instituted in 1556 by Pope 
Paul IV., was removed in 1885 and following years, its demolition hav¬ 
ing been rendered necessary by the new Tiber embankment. The term 
is also employed to indicate the Jews’ quarters in any city. 

Croesus, the last king of Dydia, succeeded his father, Alyattes, in 
560 b.c. He. made the Greeks of Asia Minor his tributaries, and ex¬ 
tended his kingdom eastward from the ^Egean to the Halys. From his 
conquests, his mines and the golden sand of the Pactolus he accumu¬ 
lated so much treasure that his wealth has become a proverb. 

Temple Bar is the name of an arched gateway which formerly stood 
at the junction of Fleet street and the Strand. It was rebuilt by Sir 
Christopher Wren in 1672-73; was removed, having become an obstruc¬ 
tion in 1878-79, and was re-erected at Theobald’s Park, near Chestnut, in 
1888. The memorial which marks the site was erected in 1880. 

The fair of Nijni-Novgorod is the greatest in the world, the value of 
goods sold being as follows: 1841, $35,000,000; 1857, $60,000,000; 1876, 
$140,000,000; the attendance in the last named year including 150 000 
merchants from all parts of the world. In that of Leipsic the annual 
average of sales is $20,000,000, comprising 20,000 tons of merchandise, of 
which two-fifths is books. 

Kara George Petrovitsch, known as Black George, of Servia, was a 
Servian peasant who, in 1804, revolted against the Porte. Having de¬ 
feated several armies sent against him, in 1807 he took Belgrade, and 
formed a military government in Servia. In 1811, Turkey acknowledged 
him “ hospodar of Servia,” but, in 1814, the Turks recovered the country 
Black George fled to Austria, was imprisoned, and died. * 


FAMOUS PERSONS AND PLACES. 


335 


Caledonia is the name given by the Romans to that part of Scotland 
lying between the Forth and the Clyde; so called from the tribe of Cale- 
donii. The name disappears in the fourth century, and the people of 
Scotland began to be called Piets (to the east) and Scots (to the west). 
In more modern times Caledonia is a poetical name for Scotland. 

Delphi was an ancient northern Greek town, celebrated for the 
oracles pronounced by the Pythian priestess in the temple of Apollo. 
The oracle was known as early as 900 b. c., and the temple became the 
repository of immense treasures. It was plundered by the Phocians and 
Nero, the latter taking away three huudred costly statues in 67 A. d. 

Alsatia is a cant name applied to the precinct of Whitefriars, which, 
until 1697, enjoyed the privilege of a debtors’ sanctuary, and hence was 
crowded with swindlers and bullies. The name is first met with in 1623, 
and we have Shadwell’s comedy, “The Squire of Alsatia’’ (1688), Scott’s 
authority for some of the finest scenes in the “ Fortunes of Nigel.’’ 

Jack Cade was the ringleader of the insurrection that broke out in 
Kent, 1450. He was an Irishman, and called himself Mortimer, claim¬ 
ing to be a natural son of the Duke of York. He marched to London 
at the head of twenty thousand armed men, who encamped at Black- 
heath, June 1, 1450. Being slain by Alexander Iden, July 11, his head 
was stuck on London Bridge. 

The name “Ironsides,” -was popularly applied to the regiment of a 
thousand horse, which Cromwell raised mainly in the eastern counties 
for service against King Charles I. early in the great Civil War. The 
name, already given for his bravery to an English king, Edmund, was 
first attached to Cromwell himself, but passed easily to the men at whose 
head he first appeared at Edgehill. 

Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Baron von Miinchhausen, was a mem¬ 
ber of an ancient, noble family of Hanover, whose name has become 
proverbial as the narrator of false and ridiculously exaggerated exploits 
and adventures. He was born May 11, 1720, at* Bodenwerder, in Han¬ 
over, served as a cavalry officer in Russian campaigns against the Turks* 
and died at his birthplace, February 22, 1797. 

Dismal Swamp, measuring thirty miles from north to south by ten 
in breadth, lies chiefly in Virginia, but partly in North Carolina. In 
the center is Lake Drummond, about six miles broad; elsewhere its 
dense growth of cypress and cedar has been greatly thinned, and part of 
the region has been reclaimed. The tract is intersected by a canal con¬ 
necting Chesapeake Bay and Albemarle Sound. 

Alloway, Burns’ birthplace, and the scene of his “Tam o’ Shanter,” 
lies on the right bank of the “ bonny Doon,” two miles south of the town 
of Ayr. The “auld clay biggin,” in which the poet was born on 23d 
January, 1759, was in 1880 converted into a Burns Museum. The 
“ haunted kirk ” still stands, a roofless ruin, near the “Auld Brig; ” and 
hard by is the Burns Monument erected in 1820. 

The subject of the famous song “Annie Laurie” was the eldest of 
the three daughters of Sir Robert Laurie, of Maxwelton. In 1709 she 
married James Fergusson, of Craigdarroch, and was the mother of 
Alexander Fergusson, the hero of Burn’s song, “The Whistle.” The 
song of “Annie Laurie ” was written by William Douglas, of Finland, 
in the stewardry of Kirkcudbright, hero of the song “Willie was a 
Wanton Wag.” 


336 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


In Java the “Valley of the Upas Tree” is sometimes called the 
“Valley of Death,” and its deadly influence was formerly ascribed to 
the malignant properties of a peculiar vegetable production of the island, 
called the “upas tree,” which especially flourishes in this locality. 
Recent travelers, however, declare that accounts of the fatality attending 
a passage of this famous valley have been greatly exaggerated. 

Crispinos and Crispianus were two brothers, born at Rome, from 
which place they traveled to Soissons, in France (about a.d. 303), to 
propagate the gospel, and worked as shoemakers, that they might not 
be chargeable to any one. The governor of the town ordered them to 
be beheaded the very year of their arrival, and they were made the tute¬ 
lary saints of the “gentle craft.” St. Crispin’s Day is October 25. 

The nine worthies is the title given to the following eminent men: 
Jews: Joshua (1426 b.c.), David (1015 B.C.), Judas Maccabseus (161 b.c.); 
Heathens: Hector of Troy (1184 b.c.), Alexander the Great (323 b.c.), 
Julius Caesar (44 b.c.); Christians: King Arthur of Britain (542 a.d.), 
Charlemagne of France (814 a.d.), Godfrey of Bouillon (1100 a.d.). In 
some lists Gideon and Samson are introduced, and in others Hercules 
and Pompey. 

San Marino, in Italy, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, is the oldest 
Republic in the world. It is, next to Monaco, the smallest State in 
Europe. The exact date ot the establishment of this Republic is not 
known, but according to tradition it was in the fourth century, by 
Marinus, a Dalmatian hermit, and has ever since remained independent. 
It is mountainous and contains four or five villages. The word “liberty” 
is inscribed on its capitol. 

The Tuileries is the name of a garden and palace in Paris, built on 
the site of an ancient fabrique de tuiles. It was composed of three great 
pavilions, called Le pavilion de Marsan (north), the pavilion de Fibre 
(south), and the pavilion de VHorloge (center). It was joined to the 
Louvre by Napoleon III. (1851-6). The land was bought by Francois I. 
in 1564, and the original palace was made for Catherine de Medicis after 
the design of Philibert Delorme. 

Since 1811 Ajaccio has been the capital of Corsica. It has a fine ca¬ 
thedral, completed in 1585, and a spacious harbor, protected by a citadel; 
but its special interest is as the birthplace of Napoleon. There is a statue 
of him as First Consul (1850), and a monument of the emperor on horse¬ 
back, surrounded by his four brothers (1865). The house of the Bona- 
partes, the “Casa Bonaparte” is now national property. The chief em¬ 
ployments are the anchovy and pearl fisheries, and the trade in wine and 
olive-oil, which the neighborhood produces in abundance, and of good 
quality. Of late years Ajaccio has become a winter resort for consump¬ 
tive patients. 

The familiar name Bedlam is a corruption of Bethlehem, formerly a 
hospital founded by Simon Fitz-Mary in Bishopsgate Street Without, Lon¬ 
don, in 1246, as “ a privy of canons, with brethren and sisters.” When 
the religious houses were suppressed by Henry VIII. the corporation 
converted it into a lunatic asylum for sixlunatics, but in 1641, the funds 
being insufficient, partly convalescent patients were turned out to beg, 
and wore a badge. These were the “ Bedlam Beggars,” generally called 
Tom-o’-Bedlams. ” In 1675 the old building was taken down and a 
new one was erected in Moorfields. In 1814 this building was also 
pulled down, and a new hospital built in St. George’s Fields. 


FAMOUS PERSONS AND PLACES. 


337 


Bramah (Joseph), a peasant’s son, occupied his spare time when a 
mere boy in making musical instruments, aided by the village black¬ 
smith. At the age of sixteen he hurt his ankle while plowing, and em¬ 
ployed his time while confined to the house in carving and making wood- 
wares. In another forced leisure from a severe fall he employed his 
time in contriving and making useful inventions, which ultimately led 
him to fame and fortune (1749-1814). 

Among the noted club-rooms of the eighteenth century was Almack’s. 
It was a suite of assembly rooms, built in 1765 in King street, St. James’, 
London, by a tavern-keeper named M’Call, who inverted the two sylla¬ 
bles of his name, Mac-call, into Allmack, or Almack. The rooms 
became famous for fashionable balls under the management of a com- 
mitee of ladies of the highest rank. The rooms are now called Willis’ 
Rooms from a proprietor named Willis. 

Saint Veronica was, according to the legend, one of the women who 
met our Lord on His way to Calvary. She offered Him her veil to wipe 
the sweat from His brow, when, wondrous to tell, the Divine features 
were miraculously imprinted upon the cloth and remained as a perma¬ 
nent picture of the face of our Lord. This miraculous picture is reported 
to have been preserved in Rome from about the year 700, and was 
exhibited in St. Peter’s on December 8, 1854. 

Half legendary, half historic is the name of Vortigern, the British 
prince who is reported by Bede, Nennius, and Geoffrey of Monmouth to 
have invited the Saxons into Britain to help him against the Piets, and 
to have married Rowena, daughter of Hengist. His allies soon became, 
according to the legend, enemies even more dangerous than the Piets, 
and soon destroyed the British princes. Samuel Ireland fathered his 
historical play of “ Vortigern ” on Shakspeare. 

Among odd titles for towns is that of Westward Ho, on the coast of 
North Devon, 2)4 miles west of Biddeford, which owes not merely its 
name but its existence to Charles Kingsley’s Elizabethan romance (1855), 
which attracted swarms of visitors to North Devon. For their accommo¬ 
dation this pretty cluster of villas and lodging houses, with its church, 
hotel, club-house, and college, has sprung up since 1867. The bathing 
| facilities are excellent, and it is a great resort of golfers. 

Prester John is the name applied by mediaeval credulity for two 
hundred years to the supposed Christian sovereign of a vast but ill- 
defined empire in central Asia. The idea of a powerful Christian poten¬ 
tate in the far East, at once priest and king, was universal in Europe 
from about the middle of the twelfth to the beginning of the fourteenth 
century, when it was transferred to Ethiopia and finally found a fancied 
historical justification in identification with the Christian king of 
Abyssinia. 

Windermere, or Winandermere, the largest lake in England, called 
from its beauty “Queen of the Lakes,” is partly in the county of Lan¬ 
caster, and partly divides that county from Westmoreland. It is nearly 
eleven miles long and about one mile in extreme breadth. About a mile 
from Waterhead, at the north extremity of the lake, is the town of Am- 
bleside, a mile and a half north-west of which is Rydal, the residence of 
the poet Wordsworth; in the vicinity of Waterhead is Dove’s Nest, the 
cottage at one time occupied by Mrs. Hemans; farther down the East 
shore is Elleray, famous as the residence of “Christopher North;” and 
half-way down the lake, on the eastern shore, is Bowness. 

U. I.-2? 



338 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Before the Reformation the clergy used to walk in procession every 
year on Corpus Christi day to St. Paul’s Cathedral. They mustered at 
the upper end of Cheapside, and there commenced chanting the Pater¬ 
noster , which continued through “Pater-noster Row”; at the end of the 
Row they said Amen, and the spot w r as called “Amen Corner.” They 
then began the Ave Maria , turning down “Ave Maria Lane.” After 
crossing Ludgate, they chanted the Credo in “Creed Lane” (which no 
longer exists). 

The Tarpeian rock was so called from Tarpeia, daughter of Spurius 
Tarpeius governor of the citadel on the Saturnian Hill of Rome. The 
story is that the Sabines bargained with the Roman maid to open the 
gates to them, for the ‘ 'ornaments on their arms. ’ ’ As they passed through 
the gates, they threw on her their shields, saying, “These are the orna¬ 
ments we bear on our arms.” She was crushed to death, and buried on 
the Tarpeian Hill. Ever after, traitors were put to death by being hurled 
headlong from the hill-top. 

An ancient and popular English gathering was the Bartholomew 
fair held 24 August (old style). Henry I., in 1133, granted the charter of 
this fair to Rayer or Rahere, a monk. Like all other fairs, it was con¬ 
nected with the church, and miracle plays, mysteries and moralities were 
performed. In 1445 four persons were appointed by the Court of Aider- 
men as keepers of the fair. In 1661 the fair lasted fourteen days. In 
1691 the fair was limited to three days. In 1840 the fair was removed to 
Islington; and in 1855 it was discontinued. 

La Belle Alliance is the name of a farm some thirteen miles from 
Brussels; ever memorable for being the position occupied by the centre 
of the French infantry in the battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815). Napo¬ 
leon himself was in the vicinity of this farm, but Wellington was at 
Mont St. Jean, two miles further north. Between these two spots was 
La Haye Sainte, where were posted the French tirailleurs. The Prussians 
call the battle of Waterloo the “Battle of la Belle Alliance” and the 
French call it the “Battle of Mont Saint-Jean. 

Will’s Coffee House was a noted resort in the reign of Charles II. 
near Covent Garden at the western corner of Bow street. It was the great 
emporium of libels and scandals, but was one of the best in London, and 
had acquired the sobriquet of “the Wit’s Coffee-house.” Here the fre¬ 
quenters heard the talk of the town about the poets, authors, and other 
celebrities, and here was the “Observator” and all the Tory and Whig 
journals of the da)-; and here would be found Matthew Prior, John Dry- 
den, Betterton the tragedian and other celebrities. 

Thirty miles from the City of Kumamoto, Japan, is the volcano Aso 
San, which has the largest crater in the world. It is more than thirty 
miles in circumference, and peopled by twenty thousand inhabitants. 
Think of walking for miles among fertile farms and prosperous villages, 
peering into schoolhouse windows and sacred shrines well within the 
shell of an old-time crater, whose walls rise eight hundred feet all about 
you. It gives one a queer feeling. Hot springs abound everywhere. In 
one place brick-red hot water is utilized to 'turn a rice mill. The inner 
crater is nearly half a mile in diameter, -and a steady column of roaring 
steam pours out of it. The last serious eruption was in 1884, when immense 
quantities of black ashes and dust were ejected and carried by the wind 
as far as Kumamoto, where for three days it was so dark that artificial 
light had to be used. 


FAMOUS PERSONS AND PLACES. 


339 


The first proposer of secession in the United States Congress was 
Josiah Quincy, of Massachusetts, in 1811, who said that, if Louisiana 
were admitted into the Union, “it will be the right of all and the duty 
of some [of the States] definitely to prepare for a separation—amicably 
if they can, violently if they must.” Mr. Poindexter, of Mississippi, 
called him to order, as did the Speaker of the House; but on appeal the 
Speaker’s decision was reversed and Mr. Quincy sustained by a. vote of 
fifty-three ayes to fifty-six noes on the point of order. 

St. James’s Palace is a large, inelegant brick structure, fronting 
towards Pall Mall. Originally a hospital dedicated to St. James, it was 
reconstructed and made a manor by Henry VIII., who also annexed to 
it a park. Here Queen Mary died (1558); Charles I. slept here the night 
before his execution; and here Charles II., the Old Pretender, and George 
IV. were born. When Whitehall was burned in 1697, St. James be¬ 
came the regular London residence of the British sovereigns, and it con¬ 
tinued to be so till Queen Victoria’s time.— The Court of St. Janies is 
a frequent designation of the British Court.—St. James Park lies south¬ 
ward from the Palace, and extends over fifty-eight acres. 

Amerigo Vespucci was a naval astronomer, from whom America ac¬ 
cidentally received its name. He was born at Florence, March 9, 1451, 
and was at the head of a large Florentine firm in Seville in 1496. He 
fitted out Columbus’ third fleet, and in 1499 himself sailed for the New 
World with Ojeda, and explored the coast of Venezuela. The accident 
which fastened his name on two continents may be traced to an inac¬ 
curate account of his travels published at St. Die in Lorraine in 1507, in 
which he is represented to have reached the mainland in 1497—which 
would have been before either Cabot or Columbus—and in which the 
suggestion is made that he should give his name to the world he had 
discovered. 

The first historical notices of Niagara Falls are given in Lescarbot’s 
record of the second voyage of Jacques Cartier in the year 1535. On the 
maps published to illustrate Champlain’s discoveries (date of maps either 
1613 or 1614) the falls are indicated by a cross, but no description of 
the wonderful cataract is given, and the best geographical authorities 
living to-day doubt if the explorer mentioned ever saw the falls, Brjnson’s 
work to the contrary notwithstanding. Father Hennepin is believed to 
have written the first description of the falls that ever was penned by one 
who had personally visited the spot. The editor of “Notes for the 
Curious,” owns a map, dated 1657, which does not figure either the great 
lakes or the falls. 

A dungeon or dark cell in a prison is usually called the “black 
hole.” The name is associated with the cruel confinement of a party of 
English in the military prison of Fort William, since called the “ Black 
Hole of Calcutta,” on the night of the 19th June, 1756. The garrison 
of the fort connected with the English factory at Calcutta having been 
captured by Suraja Dowlah (Siraj-ud-Daula), the nawab of Bengal, he 
caused the whole of the prisoners taken, one hundred and forty-six in 
number, to be confined in an apartment eighteen feet square. This cell 
had only two small windows, and these were obstructed by a veranda. 
The crush of the unhappy sufferers was dreadful; and after a night of 
excruciating agony from pressure, heat, thirst and want of air, there 
were in the morning only twenty-three survivors, the ghastliest forms 
ever seen on earth. 


340 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Samuel William Henry Ireland was a literary impostor. He pub¬ 
lished in folio, 1795, “Miscellaneous Papers and Instruments under the 
hand and seal of William Shakspeare, including the tragedy of ‘ King 
Lear,’ and a small fragment of ‘ Hamlet,’ from the original,” price about 
$25. On April 2, 1796, he produced the play of “ Vortigern and Rowena” 
from the pen of Shakspeare. It was actually represented, and drew a 
most crowded house. Dr. Parr, Dr. Valpy, James Boswell, Herbert 
Croft, and Pye, the poet-laureate, signed a document certifying their 
conviction that Ireland’s productions were genuine; but Malone exposed 
the imposition of the tragedy, and Ireland publicly confessed that all his 
publications, from beginning to end, were impositions. 

One of the most picturesque and remarkable bodies o^ water in the 
world is Henry’s Lake, in Idaho. It is situated on the dome of the con¬ 
tinent in a depression in the Rocky Mountains called Targee’s Pass. It 
has an area of forty square miles, and all around it rise snow-capped 
peaks, some of them being the highest of the continent’s backbone. In 
the lake is a floating island about 300 feet in diameter. It has for its 
basis a mat of roots so dense that it supports large trees and a heavy 
growth of underbrush. These roots are covered with several feet of rich 
soil. The surface is solid enough to support the weight of a horse any¬ 
where, and there are places where a house could be built. The wind 
blows the island about the lake, and it seldom remains twenty-four hours 
in the same place. t 

Amadis of Gaul was the love-child of King Perion and the Princess 
Elizena. He is the hero of a famous prose romance of chivalry, the first 
four books of which are attributed to Lobeira, of Portugal (died 1403). 
Thesebooks were translated into Spanish in 1460 by Montalvo, who added 
the fifth book. The five were rendered into French by Herberay, who in¬ 
creased the series to twenty-four books. Lastly, Gilbert Saunier added 
seven more volumes, and called the entire series Le Roman des Romans. 
Whether Amadis was French or British is disputed. Some maintain that 
“Gaul” means Wales, not France; that Elizena was Princess of Brittany 
(Bretagne), and that Perion was king of Gaul ( Wales), not Gaul (. France ). 
Amadis de Gaul was a tall man, of a fair complexion, his aspect some¬ 
thing between mild and austere, and had a handsome black beard. He 
was a person of very few words, was not easily provoked, and was soon 
appeased. 

The famous leaning tower of Pisa is a campanile, or bell tower. It 
was begun in 1174 by the two famous architects—Bonano of Pisa and 
William Innspruck. The tower, which is cylindrical in form, is 179 feet 
high and fifty feet in diameter, made entirely of white marble. It has 
eight stories, each with an outside gallery projecting several feet from the 
building, and each decorated with columns and arcades. In the center 
of the tower a flight of 320 steps passes up to the summit. It is called 
the leaning tower from the fact that it inclines some thirty feet from 
the perpendicular, and it is not generally known that this inclination, 
which gives the tower such a remarkable appearance, was not inten¬ 
tional. At the time it was about half done the error in measurement 
was perceived, and it was guarded against by the use of extra braces in 
the further construction of the building and"' an adaption of the stone in 
the highest portion. There are seven bells on the top of the tower, the 
largest of which weighs twelve thousand pounds, and these are so placed 
as to counteract, as far as possible, the leaning of the tower itself. 


FAMOUS PERSONS AND PLACES. 


341 


Timbuctoo (native Tumbutu , Arab. Tinbukhtu), is a famous city of 
the Soudan, on the southern edge of the Sahara. It lies about eight 
miles north of the main stream of the Joliba or Upper Niger. It stands 
only a few feet above the level of the river, is about three miles in cir¬ 
cumference, and at present without walls, though in former times it 
covered a much greater area, and was defended by walls. The houses 
are mainly one-story mud-hovels, but one of the three chief mosques is 
a large and imposing building, dating from 1325. The place stands on 
an important trade route between the interior and the west and south; 
and its importance has increased through the gradual extension of French 
influence hither. It was the theme of one of Tennyson’s early poems. 

The “M^ji in the Iron Mask” is the title given to a state prisoner 
who went by the name of L’Estang. In 1662 he was confined in the 
CMteau Pignerol. In 1686 he was removed to the He Saint Marguerite, 
and in 1698 to the Bastille, where he died in 1703. He was a state pris¬ 
oner above 40 years. He was buried under the name of Marchiali. Vol¬ 
taire says he was a twin brother of Louis XIV.; some think he was the 
Comte de Vermandois, a natural son of Louis XIV. and Mdlle. de la Val- 
liere, who was thus punished for boxing the ears of the dauphin; others 
think he was the Duke of Beaufort, who disappeared in 1669 at the siege 
of Candia; or the Duke of Monmouth, nephew of James II.; or the Count 
Girolamo Matthioli, minister of the Duke of Mantua, who overreached 
Louis in a treaty for the purchase of Casal; or John of Gonzaque, Mat- 
thioli’s secretary; or an adulterous son of Anne of Austria (the king’s 
mother) either by the Duke of Buckingham or the Cardinal Mazarin. 


THE TRUTH ABOUT ASPASIA. 

One of the most remarkable women of antiquity, Aspasia, was born at 
Miletus. The circumstance that in Athens marriage with foreign women 
was illegal, has originated the erroneous notion that Aspasia was a court¬ 
esan. She certainly broke the restraint which confined Athenian matrons 
to the seclusion of their own homes, for after her union with Pericles, 
who had parted from his first wife by mutual consent, her house became 
the rendezvous of all the learned and distinguished people in Athens. 
Socrates often visited her. Her beauty, varied accomplishments, and 
political insight were extraordinarily great. From the comic writers and 
others she received much injustice. Hermippus, the comic poet, took 
advantage of the temporary irritation of the Athenians against Pericles, 
to accuse Aspasia of impiety; but the eloquence of the great statesman 
procured her acquittal. Her influence over Pericles must have been 
singularly great, and was often caricatured—Aristophanes ascribing to 
her both the Samian and the Peloponnesian wars, the latter on account 
of the robbery of a favorite maid of hers. Plutarch vindicates her against 
such accusations. Her son by Pericles was allowed to assume his father’s 
name. After the death of Pericles (429 b.c.) Aspasia formed a union 
with Lysicles, a wealthy cattle-dealer, who, through her influence, be¬ 
came an eminent man in Athens. 

THE STORY OF ACADIE. 

Longfellow in his “Evangeline” has immortalized the sufferings of the 
French peasantry of Acadie or Acadia. This was the name given by the 
French settlers to Nova Scotia on its first settlement in 1604. The English 
claimed the colony by right of discovery—as having been discovered by 




342 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


the Cabots; the exclusive possession of the fisheries proved a further bone 
of contention. In 1667 it was ceded to France, but the English colonists 
never recognized the cession, and harassed the French settlers. In 1713 
France gave up all claim to the colony: the Acadians mostly remained 
though they had liberty to leave within two years, and were exempted 
from bearing arms against their brethren. A French settlement was 
formed on Cape Breton, and received the name of Louisbourg, whilst as 
a result of French intrigues wdth the Indians, the latter harassed the Eng¬ 
lish. The majority of the Acadians would not take the oath of allegiance 
nor would they refrain from abetting underhand hostilities against the 
English. “The French government” says Parkman, “began by making 
the Acadians its tools, and ended by making them its victims.” Accord¬ 
ingly, in 1755 it was determined at a consultation of the governor and his 
council to remove them; and to the number of about 18,000, they were 
dispossessed of their property and dispersed among the other British pro¬ 
vinces. This wholesale expatriation, often severely condemned, was not 
resorted to until every milder resource had been tried. A simple, yet very 
ignorant peasantry, living apart from the rest of the world, they were 
ruled by the priest, who taught them to stand fast for the church and 
King Louis, and to resist heresy and King George. 


THE ENGLISH CLAIMANT. 

In 1867 an Englishman in London declared he was Sir Roger Charles 
Tichborne, and claimed the estates and income of $120,000 a year. The 
Dowager accepted him, but his claim was resisted on behalf of Sir Henry 
Tichborne, then a minor, and the trial of the claim began May 11, 1871, 
and on the 6th March, 1872, the “claimant” was declared non-suited. 
The Attorney-General, Sir J. D. Coleridge, who spoke twenty-six days, 
appeared for the defence, and Dr. Kenealy for the claimant. The claim¬ 
ant was prosecuted as Thomas Castro alias Arthur Orton, for perjury, 
and found guilty February 28, 1874, and sentenced to fourteen years’ 
penal servitude. The judges refused a new trial, and the House of 
Lords confirmed the sentence on appeal, March 11, 1881. This was the 
longest trial on record in England. 


NOTES ON MAMMOTH CAVE. 

The Mammoth Cave is in Edmonson County, near Green River, 
about seventy-five miles from Louisville. It was discovered in 1809 by 
a hunter named Hutchins, while in pursuit of a wounded bear. Its en¬ 
trance is reached by passing down a wild, rocky ravine through a dense 
forest. The cave extends some nine miles. To visit the portions already 
traversed, it is said, requires 150 to 200 miles of travel. The cave con¬ 
tains a succession of wonderful avenues, chambers, domes, abysses, grot¬ 
toes, lakes, rivers, cataracts, and other marvels, which are too well 
known to need more than a _ reference. One chamber—the Star—is 
about 500 feet long, 70 feet wide, 70 feet high, the ceiling of which is 
composed of black gypsum, and is studded with innumerable white 
points, that by a dim light resemble stars, hence the name of'the cham¬ 
ber. There are avenues one and a half, and even two miles in length, 
some of which are incrusted with beautiful formations, and present 
the appearance of enchanted palace halls. There is a natural tunnel 
about three quarters of a mile long, 100 feet wide, covered with a ceil- 




FAMOUS PERSONS AND PLACES. 


343 


ing of smooth rock 45 feet high. There is a chamber having an area of 
from four to five acres, and there are domes 200 and 300 feet high. Echo 
River is some three-fourths of a mile in length, 200 feet in width at some 
points, and from 10 to 30 in depth, and runs beneath an arched ceiling 
of smooth rock about 15 feet high; while the Styx, another river, is 450 
feet long, from 15 to 40 feet wide, and from 30 to 40 feet deep, and is 
spanned by a natural bridge. Lake Lethe has about the same length and 
width as the river Styx, varies in depth from 3 to 40 feet, lies beneath 
a ceiling some 90 feet above its surface, and sometimes rises to a height 
of 60 teet. There is also a Dead Sea, quite a somber body of water. 
There are several interesting caves in the neighborhood, one three miles 
long, and three each about a mile in length. 


CRADLES AND GRAVES. 
I.—Where our Presidents were born: 


Virginia, 5—Washington, Jefferson, Madi¬ 
son, Monroe, Tyler. 

Massachusetts, 2 — John Adams, John 
Quincy Adams. 

Tennessee, 3—Jackson, Polk, Johnson. 
Ohio, 3—Harrison, Hayes, Garfield. 

II.—Where they were interred: 

Washington, at Mt. Vernon, Va. 

John Adams, at Quincy, Mass. 

Jefferson, at Monticello, Va. 

Madison, at Montpelier, Va. 

Monroe, at Richmond, Va. 

John Quincy Adams, at Quincy, Mass. 
Jackson, at “The Hermitage,” Ky. 

Van Buren, at Kinderhook, N. Y. 
Harrison, at North Bend, O. 

Polk, at Nashville, Tenn. 


New York, 4—Van Buren, Fillmore, Ar¬ 
thur, Cleveland. 

Illinois, 2—Lincoln, Grant. 

Louisiana, 1—Taylor. 

New Hampshire, 1—Pierce. 

Pennsylvania, 1—Buchanan. 


Taylor, at Louisville, Ky. 
Fillmore, at Buffalo, N. Y. 
Pierce, at Concord, N. H. 
Buchanan, at Lancaster, Pa. 
Lincoln, at Springfield, Ill. 
Johnson, at Greenville, Tenn. 
Grant, at Riverside, N. Y. 
Hayes, at Fremont, O. 
Garfield, at Cleveland, O. 
Arthur, at Albany, N. Y. 


FAMOUS ANCIENT CITIES. 

Nineveh was 15 miles long, 8 wide and 40 miles round, with a wall 
100 feet high, and thick enough for 3 chariots abreast. Babylon was 50 
miles within the walls, which were 87 feet thick and 350 high, with 100 
brazen gates. The Temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was 420 feet to the 
support of the roof. It was 100 years in building. The largest of the 
pyramids is 461 feet high, and 653 feet on the sides; its base covers 11 
acres. The stones are about thirty feet in length, and the layers are 380. 
It employed 330,000 men in building. The labyrinth, in Egypt, contains 
300 chambers and 250 halls. Thebes, in Egypt, presents ruins 27 miles 
round. Athens was 25 miles round, and contained 350,000 citizens and 
400,000 slaves. The Temple of Delphos was so rich in donations that it 
was plundered of $500,000, and Nero carried away 200 statues. The 
walls of Rome were 13 miles round. 


THE FATHER OF THE CENOBITES. 

St. Antony, surnamed the Great, or Anthony of Thebes, the father 
ofmonachism, was born about the year 251 a.d., atKoma, near Heraklea, 
in Upper Egypt. His parents were both wealthy and pious,. and be¬ 
stowed upon him a religious education. Having sold his possessions, and 
distributed the proceeds among the poor, he withdrew into the wilder- 







344 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


ness, where he disciplined himself in all these austerities which have 
hallowed his memory in the Catholic Church and made him the model 
of monastic life. When thirty years of age, he penetrated farther into the 
desert, and took up his abode in an old ruin on the top of a hill, where 
he spent twenty years in the most rigorous seclusion; but, in 305 he was 
persuaded to leave his retreat by the prayers of numerous anchorites, who 
wished to live under his direction. He now founded a mastery, at first 
only a group of separate and scattered cells near Memphis and Arsinoe; 
but which nevertheless, may be considered the origin of cenobite life. 
After a visit to Alexandriain 311, he returned to his lonely ruin. In 355 
the venerable hermit, then over a hundred years old, made a journey to 
Alexandria to dispute with the Arians; but feeling his end approaching, 
he retired to his desert home, where he died, 356 a. d. Athanasius wrote 
his life. 


GIANTS AND DWARFS. 

The most noted giants of ancient and modern times are as follows: 


NAME. 

Goliath. 

Galbara. 

John Middleton. 

Frederick’s Swede.. . 
Cujanus... 

PLACE. 

Sweden.... 

HEIGHT, FEET. 
11.0 

9.9 

9.3 

8.4 

PERIOD. 

B. C. 1063. 
Claudius Csesar. 
A. D. 1578. 

... Finland.... 

7.9 


Gilly. 


8 1 


Patrick Cotter. 

...Cork . 

8.7 

1806. 

Chang Gow. 

... Pekin. 

7.8 

1880. 


Many of the great men of history have been rather small in stature. 
Napoleon was only about 5 ft. 4 in., Washington was 5 ft. 7 in. One of 
the greatest of American statesmen, Alexander H. Stephens, never ex¬ 
ceeded 115 pounds in weight, and in his old age his weight was less than 
100 pounds. 

The more notable human mites are named below: 


NAME. HEIGHT, INCHES. DATE OF BIRTH. PLACE OF BIRTH. 

Count Borowlaski. 39 1739 Warsaw. 

Tom Thumb (Chas. S. Stratton)_ 31 1837 New York. 

Mrs Tom Thumb. . 32 1842 New York. 

Che-Mah. 25 1838 China. 

Tucia Zarate. 20 1863 Mexico. 

General Mite. 21 1864 New York. 


THE COLOSSEUM. 

The Flavian amphitheater at Rome, known as the Colosseum from 
its colossal size, was begun by Vespasian, and finished by Titus 80 a.d., 
ten years after the destruction of Jerusalem. It was the largest struct¬ 
ure of the kind, and is fortunately also the best preserved. It covers 
about five acres of ground, and was capable of seating over eighty thou¬ 
sand spectators. Its greatest length is six hundred and twelve feet, and 
its greatest breadth five hundred and fifteen, the corresponding figures 
for the Albert Hall in London being two hundred and seventy and two 
hundred and forty. On the occasion of its dedication by Titus, five 
thousand wild beasts were slain in the arena, the games lasting nearly a 
hundred days. The exterior is about one hundred and sixty feet in 
height, and consists of three rows of columns, Doric, Ionic, and Cor¬ 
inthian,. and, above all, a row of Corinthian pilasters. Between the 
columns there are arches, which form open galleries throughout the 
whole building; and between each alternate pilasters of the upper tier 



























FAMOUS PERSONS AND PLACES. 


345 


there is a window. Besides the podium , there were three tiers or stories 
of seats, corresponding to the external stories. The first of these is sup¬ 
posed to have contained twenty-four rows of seats; and the second, six¬ 
teen. These were separated by a lofty wall from the third story, which 
contained the populace. The podium was a gallery surrounding the 
arena, in which the emperor, the senators, and vestal virgins had their 
seats. The building was covered by a temporary awning or wooden 
roof, the velarium. The open space in the center of the amphitheater 
was called arena , the Eatin word for sand, because it was covered with 
sand or sawdust during the performances. 

EXHIBIT OF IvOCAT NAMES. 

There are more than twenty-seven thousand counties in the United 
States. Of these, ten per cent, are named after presidents, and thirty- 
five per cent, after Americans who have not been presidents (1890). 

1. Counties, etc., named from presidents: 

Twenty-seven counties named Washington, besides cities and towns innumer¬ 
able; 43 Jefferson; 21 Jackson; 17 Lincoln, Madison, and Monroe; 12 Polk; 10 Grant; 9 
Adams and Harrison; 4 Garfield, Pierce, and Van Buren. 

2. Counties, etc., named from Americans who have not been presi¬ 
dents: 

Boone, Calhoun, Clay, Hancock, Putnam, Randolph, Scott, Webster and many 
more. 

3. The following names are extravagant enough to hinder any place 

from rising into a bishopric. Only fancy a dignified clergyman signing 
himself “Yours faithfully, John-, ” followed by one of the follow¬ 

ing names: 

Alkaliburg, Bleeder’s Gulch. Bloody Bend, Boanerges Ferry, Breeches Fork, 
Bludgeonsville, Bugville, Butter’s Sell, Buried Pipe, Cairoville, Clean Deck, Daughter’s 
Loss, Euchreville, Eurekapolis, Eurekaville (!), Fighting Cocks, Good Thunder, Hell 
and Nails Crossing, Hezekiahville, Hide and Seek, Jack Pot, Joker, Murderville, Nettle 
Carrier, Numaville, Peddlecake, Poker Flat, Pottawattomieville, Plumpville, Roaring 
Fox, Sharper’s Creek, Skeletonville Agency, Soaker’s Ranche, Spottedville, Starvation, 
Stuck-up-Canon, Thief’s End, Tombstone, Ubet, Villa Realville, Yellow Medicine, Yuba 
Dam, etc. 


WASHINGTON AND EDUCATION. 

A fact long lost sight of is that George Washington himself, the 
“Father of his Country’’ was also among the first of its great benefac¬ 
tors to the cause of higher education. Quite recently attention has been 
directed to the following clause in his last will and testament: 

“It has always been a source of serious regret with me to see the 
youth of the United States sent to foreign countries for the purpose of 
education, often before their minds were formed, or they had imbibed 
any adequate ideas of the happiness of their own. My mind has not 
been able to contemplate any plan more likely to affect the measure than 
the establishment of a university in a central part of the United States, 
to which the youths of fortune and talent from all parts thereof may be 
sent for the completion of education, and where they may be enabled to 
free themselves in a proper degree from those local prejudices and habit¬ 
ual jealousies, which, when carried to excess, are never-failing sources 
of disquietude to the public mind and pregnant of mischievous conse¬ 
quences to this country. Under these impressions: 

“Item—I give and bequeath, in perpetuity, the fifty shares which I 
hold in the Potomac Company, toward the endowment of a university;. 




346 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


and, until such seminary is established, and the funds arising on these 
shares shall be required for its support, my further will and desire is 
that the profit accruing therefrom shall, whenever the dividends are 
made, be laid out in purchasing stock in the Bank of Columbia, or some 
other bank, at the discretion of my executors, or by the Treasurer of 
the United States for the time being, until a sum adequate to the ac¬ 
complishment of the object is obtained; of which I have not the smallest 
doubt before many years pass away, even if no aid or encouragement is 
given by the legislative authority, or from any other source.” 

This noble bequest has been absorbed, it appears, into Uncle Sam’s 
capacious treasury, and at five per cent compound interest would now 
amount to about five million dollars. It is therefore entirely fitting that 
our Senators should be urging, after a lapse of ninety-three years, its 
employment in pursuance of the testator’s will on behalf of the youth of 
his well-beloved country. _ 

THE WORUD’S SEVEN WONDERS. 

The seven wonders of the world are: The Pyramids, the Colossus of 
Rhodes, Diana’s Temple at Ephesus, the Pharos of Alexandria, the 
Hanging Gardens at Babylon, the Statue of the Olympian Jove, and the 
Mausoleum by Artemisia at Halicarnassus. The Pyramids are numer¬ 
ous, and space forbids anything like even a list of them. The great piles 
were constructed of blocks of red or synetic granite, and of a hard calcareous 
stone. These blocks were of extraordinary dimensions, and their trans¬ 
portation to the sites of the pyramids and their adjustment in their 
places, indicate a surprising degree of mechanical skill. The Great 
Pyramid covers an area of between twelve and thirteen acres. The 
masonry consisted originally of 89,028,000 cubic feet, and still amounts 
to about 82,111,000 feet. The present vertical height is 450 feet, against 
479 feet originally;'and the present length of the sides is 746 feet, against 
764 feet originally. The total weight of the stone is estimated at 6,316,- 
000,000 tons. The city of Rhodes was besieged by Demetrius Polior- 
cetest King of Macedon, but, aided by Ptolemy Soter, King of Egypt, 
the enemy was repulsed. To express their gratiude to their allies and to 
their tutelary deity, they erected a brazen statue to Apollo. It was 105 
feet high, and hollow, with a winding staircase that ascended to the 
head. After standing fifty-six years, it was overthrown by an earthquake, 
224 years before Christ, and lay nine centuries on the ground, and then 
was sold to a Jew by the Saracens, who had captured Rhodes, about the 
middle of the seventh century. It is said to have required nine hundred 
camels to remove the metal, and from this statement it has been calcu¬ 
lated its weight was 720,000 pounds. The Temple of Diana, at Ephesus, 
was built at the common charge of all the Asiatic states. The chief 
architect was Chersiphon, and Pliny says that 220 years were employed 
in completing the temple, whose riches were immense. It was 425 feet 
long, 225 feet broad, and was supported by 125 columns of Parian marble 
(sixty feet high, each weighing 150 tons), furnished by as many kings. 
It was set on fire on the night of Alexander’s birth by an obscure person 
named Erostratus, who confessed on the rack that the sole motive which 
prompted him was the desire to transmit his name to future ages. The 
temple was again built, and once more burned by the Goths in their 
naval invasion, a.d. 256. The colossal statue of Jupiter in the temple of 
Olympia, at Elis, was by Phidias. It was in gold and ivory, and sat 
enthroned in the temple for 800 years, and was finally destroyed by fire 



FAMOUS PERSONS AND PLACES. 


347 


about a.d. 475. From the best information, it is believed that the Mau¬ 
soleum at Halicarnassus was a rectangular building surrounded by an 
Ionic portico of thirty-six columns, and surmounted by a pyramid, rising 
in twenty-four steps, upon the summit of which was a colossal marble 
quadriga with a statue of Mausolus. The magnificent structure was 
erected by Artemisia, who was the sister, wife, and successor of Mausolus. 


THE WORLD’S NOBLEST PARK. 

The Yellowstone National Park extends sixty-five miles north and 
south and fifty-five miles east and west, comprising 3,575 square miles,and 
is 6,000 feet or more above sea level. Yellowstone lake, twenty miles 
by fifteen, has an altitude of 7,788 feet. The mountain ranges which 
hem in the valleys on every side rise to the height of 10,000 to 12,000 
feet, and are always covered with snow. This great park contains the 
most strking of all the mountains, gorges, falls, rivers, and lakes in the 
whole Yellowstone region. The springs on Gardiner’s River cover an 
area of about one square mile, and three or four square miles thereabout 
are occupied by the remains of springs which have ceased to flow. The 
natural basins into which these springs flow are from four to six feet in 
diameter and from one to four feet in depth. The principal ones are 
located upon terraces midway up the sides of the mountain. The banks 
of the Yellowstone river abound with ravines and canons, which are 
carved out of the heart of the mountains through the hardest rocks. The 
most remarkable of these is the canon of Tower Creek and Column 
Mountain. The latter, which extends along the eastern bank of the river 
for upward of two miles, is said to-resemble the Giant’s Causeway. The 
canon of Tower Creek is about ten miles in length, and is so deep and 
gloomy that it is called “The Devil’s Den.” Where Tower Creek ends 
the Grand Canon begins. It is twenty miles in length, impassable 
throughout, and inaccessible at the water’s edge, except at a few points.. 
Its rugged edges are from 200 to 500 yards apart, and its depth is so pro¬ 
found that no sound ever reaches the ear from the bottom. The Grand 
Canon contains a great multitude of hot springs of sulphur, sulphate of 
copper, alum, etc. In the number and magnitude of its hot springs and 
geysers, the Yellowstone Park surpasses all the rest of the world. There 
are probably fifty geysers that throw a column of water to the height of 
from 50 to 200 feet, and it is stated that there are not fewer than 5,000 
springs; there are two kinds, those depositing lime and those depositing 
silica. The temperature of the calcareous springs is from 160 to 170 
degress, while that of the others rises to 200 or more. The principal col¬ 
lections are the upper and lower geyser basins of the Madison river and 
the calcareous springs on Gardiner’s River. The great falls are marvels 
to which adventurous travelers have gone only to return and report that 
they are parts of the wonders of this new American wonderland. 


MARVELS OF OLD EGYPT. 

Pyramids —The great pyramid of Gizeh is the largest structure 
of any kind ever erected by the hand of man. Its original dimen¬ 
sions at the base were 764 feet square, and its perpendicular height in 
the highest point is 488 feet; it covers four acres, one rood and twenty- 
two perches of ground, and has been estimated by an eminent English 
architect to have cost not less than /30,000,000, which in United States 
currency would be about $145,200,000. Internal evidences prove that 




348 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


the great pyramid was begun about the year 2170 b.c., about the time of 
the birth of Abraham. It is estimated that about 5,000,000 tons of hewn 
stones were used in its construction. 

Sphinx. —The word sphinx is from the Greek and means the stran¬ 
gler, and was applied to a fabled creature of the Egyptians, which had 
the body of a lion, the head of a man or an animal, and two wings at¬ 
tached to its sides. In the Egyptian hieroglyphs the sphinx symbol¬ 
ized wisdom and power united. It has been supposed that the fact 
that the overflow of the Nile occurred when the sun was in the con¬ 
stellations Leo and Virgo gave the idea of the combinations of form in 
the sphinx, but this idea seems quite unfounded. In Egypt the reigning 
monarch was usually represented in the form of a sphinx. The most re¬ 
markable sphinx is that near the pyramids at Gizeh. It is sculptured 
from the rock, masonry having been added in several places to complete 
the form. It is 172 feet long by 53 feet high, but only the head of this 
remarkable sculpture can now be seen, the rest of the form having been 
concealed by the heaped-up sands of the desert. 

Obelisks. —The oldest of all the obelisks is the beautiful one of rosy 
granite wdiich stands alone among the green fields upon the banks of 
the Nile, not far from Cairo. It is the gravestone of a great ancient city 
which has vanished and left only this relic behind. The city was the 
Bethshemesh of the Scriptures, the famous On, which is memorable to 
all Bible readers as the residence of the priest of Potipherah, whose 
daughter, Assenath, Joseph married. The Greeks called it Heliopolis. 

Cleopatra's Needle. —The two obelisks known as Cleopatra’s 
Needles were set up at the entrance of the Temple of the Sun, in Heliop¬ 
olis, Egypt; by Thothmes III., about 1831 b.c. We have no means of 
knowing when they were built, or by whom, except from the inscrip¬ 
tions on them, which indicate the above time. The material of which 
they were cut is granite, brought from Syene, near the first cataract of 
the Nile. Two centuries after their erection Rameses II. had the stones 
nearly covered with carving setting out of his own greatness and achieve¬ 
ments. Twenty-three years before Christ, Augustus Caesar moved the 
obelisks from Heliopolis to Alexandria and set them up in the Caesarium, 
a palace, which now stands, a mere mass of ruins, near the station of 
the railroad to Cairo. In' 1819 one of these obelisks was presented by 
the Egyptian Government to England, but as no one knew how to move 
them, it was not taken to London until 1878. Subsequently the other 
obelisk was presented to the United States. 

The work of moving this great Egyptian obelisk from Alexandria 
to New York was managed by Commander H. H. Gorringe, of the 
United States Navy. The officer reached Alexandria October 16, 1879, 
and at once began to work with one hundred Arabs, who completed the 
excavation of the obelisk’s pedestal by removing 1,730 cubic yards of 
earth in about twenty days. The machinery for lowering the monolith 
was then attached, and the block was laid in a horizontal position. 
Within the foundation and steps of the pedestal were found stones and 
implements engraved with emblematic designs, and some delay was 
caused in order that these might be taken up very carefully to be placed 
in exactly the same position in the pedestal when re-erected in New 
York. The obelisk was removed to the wharf and upon the steamer 
waiting for it, by means of cannon-balls rolling in metal grooves. The 
shaft, pedestal, and steps of the obelisk were removed separately, the 
entire mass weighing 1,470 tons. 


THE WORLD AND ITS WAYS. 


’ Tis pleasant, through the loopholes of retreat, 

To peep at such a world ; to see the stir 
Of the great Babel, and not feel the crowd: 

To hear the roar she sends through all her gates, 

At a safe distance, where the dying sound 
Falls a soft murmur on th’ uniujur’a ear. 

—CoorER. 

A MYRIAD QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 

Lincoln was assassinated April 14, 1865. 

Rome was founded by Romulus, 752 b.c. 

Gold was discovered in California in 1848. 

Chinese history begins from the year 3000 b.c. 

Ignatius Loyola founded the order of Jesuits, 1541. 

First authentic use of organs, 755; in England, 951. 

The German Empire was Reestablished January 18, 1871. 

Egyptian pottery is the oldest known; dates from 2,000 b. c. 

First photographs produced in England, 1802; perfected, 1841. 

First life insurance, in London, 1772; in America, Philadelphia, 1812. 

Electric light was invented by Lodyguin and Kossloff, at London, 
1874. 

War was declared with Great Britain, June 19,1812; peace, February 
18, 1815. 

First public schools in America were established in the New England 
States about 1642. 

Postage stamps first came into use in England in the year 1840; in 
the United States, in 1847. 

The highest range of mountains is the Himalayas, the mean eleva¬ 
tion being from 16,000 to 18,000 feet. 

The largest inland sea is the Caspian, between Europe and Asia, 
being 700 miles long and 270 miles wide. 

Alma Mater (bounteous mother), is a familiar term applied by univer¬ 
sity men to their own particular university. 

The Sombrero (Spanish, from Sombra , “shade”), is a broad-brimmed 
felt hat, originally Spanish, but common throughout North and South 
America. 


349 



350 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


An oak grows 2 ft. 10 in. in 3 years. An elm in 3 years grows 8 ft 
3 in.; a beach, 1 ft. 8 in.; a poplar, 6 ft.; a willow, 9 ft. 3 in. 

The largest desert is Sahara, in Northern Africa. Its length is 3,000 
miles and breadth 900 miles; having an area of 2,000,000 square miles. 

The largest suspension bridge is the Brooklyn. The length of the 
main span is 1,595 feet 6 inches. The entire length of the bridge is 
5,989 feet. 

Bowstring, the string of a bow, is a name specifically used for an old 
Turkish mode of execution, the offender being strangled by means of a 
bowstring. 

The sweetest singer is the nightingale; then come the linnet, the 
lark, sky-lark and wood-lark. The mocking bird has the greatest powers 
of imitation. 

Creches are nurseries to which mothers can send their children 
whilst they go to work. They were started first in France, 1844, and in 
England, 1863. 

An ornament or knot of ribbon or rosette of leather, worn either as 

a. military or naval decoration, or as the badge of a political party, is 
called a Cockade. 

The nine great public schools of England are Eton, Harrow, Rugby, 
Winchester, Westminster, Shrewsbury, Charterhouse, St. Paul’s and 
Merchant Taylors’. 

Cross-buns are small cakes especially prepared for Good Friday, and 
in many towns of England cried about the streets on the morning of 
that day as “hot cross-buns.” 

Cricket is supposed to have been played in England in the fourteenth 
century. The first English team visited Australia, 1861, and the first 
Australian team visited England, 1878. 

The term crofter is commonly used in Scotland to designate a small 
tenant of land who derives a substantial portion of his livelihood from 
cultivation or the raising of live-stock. 

A poison used by some of the South American Indians for putting 
on the points of their arrows, is called curari. Animals killed with it 
may be eaten, however, without injury. 

Dead reckoning is the method of reckoning a ship’s position by cal¬ 
culating by the log how far she has run, making allowance for drift, 
leeway, etc., without an observation of the stars. 

The ancient inhabitants of Jutland were called Cimbri. They made 
serious incursions into Italy, but were utterly routed by the Romans, 101 

b. c., and were afterwards merged in the Saxons. 

A canton is a division of territory, constituting a separate govern¬ 
ment or state, as in Switzerland; or, as in France, a collection of com¬ 
munes, forming a subdivision of an arrondissement. 

It is claimed that crows, eagles, ravens and swans live to be 100 
years old; herons, 50; parrots, 60; pelicans and geese, 50; skylarks, 30; 
sparrow hawks, 40; peacocks, canaries and cranes, 24. 

The term “ Cockney” is a familiar name for a Londoner, the earlier 
meaning of which was a foolish, effeminate person, or a spoilt child. 
The original meaning is very obscure, and various accounts are given of 
its origin. 


THE WORLD AND ITS WAYS. 


351 


Cremation is a term signifying the reduction of the dead human 
body to ashes by fire, which was a very early and widespread usage of 
antiquity. There are nine crematories in the United States. 

Almeh, Alme, or Almai (Arabic alim, “wise,” “learned”), a class 
of Egyptian singing girls in attendance at festivals, entertainments, or 
funerals. The Ghawazee, or dancing girls, are of a lower order. 

A splendid thing of fancy or hope, but wholly without any real 
existence, is called a “castle of Spain.” So Greek Kalends means 
“never,” because there were no such things as “ Greek Kalends.” 

The camel is a caisson-like apparatus for rendering a vessel navig¬ 
able in shoal water. It was indented by the Russian engineer De Witte 
(1790-1854), and is often used between Kronstadt and St. Petersburgh. 

Chalet is the French-Swiss name for the wooden hut of the Swiss 
herdsmen on the mountains; but is also extended to Swiss dwelling- 
houses generally, and to picturesque and ornate villas built in imitation 
of them. 

The origin of the game of billiards is uncertain. Some suppose that 
it was invented by Henrique Devigne in 1571. Slate tables were intro¬ 
duced in 1827. Shakspeare makes Cleopatra invite her companion to 
billiards. 

A dais is the raised platform at the upper end of ancient dining halls, 
also the high table of the hall itself. The name is also applied to a seat 
with a canopy or high wainscot back for the occupants sitting at the 
high table. 

It is a common Asiatic custom for the bridegroom to give chase to 
the bride, either on foot, horseback, or in canoes. If the bridegroom 
catches the fugitive, he claims her as his bride, otherwise the match is 
broken off. 

Rows of arches supported by columns, either having an open space of 
greater or less width behind them, or in contact with masonry, are called 
“Arcades.” The arcade in Gothic corresponds to the colonnade in clas¬ 
sical architecture. 

Cuddy is a name first applied in East India trading ships to a cabin 
under the poop, where the men messed and slept. The same name was 
afterwards given to the only cabin in very small vessels, and sometimes 
to the cooking-room. 

The bungalow is a species of house usually occupied by Europeans 
in the interior of India, and commonly provided for officers’ quarters in 
cantonments. Bungalows are properly of only one story, with a veranda, 
and a pyramid roof, generally of thatch, although tiles are sometimes 
substituted. 

Cock-fighting was a sport common among both the Greeks and the 
Romans, as to-day it is in India, the Malay countries, and Spanish 
America. In England it flourished for fully six centuries, and, though 
forbidden by law, is still practiced among the populace of British and 
American cities. 

Cribbage, a game at cards, probably of English origin, is played 
with a pack of fifty-two cards; the scores accrue in consequence of cer¬ 
tain combinations in play, hand, and crib (for an account of which see 
any treatise on the game). The scores are marked on a cribbage board 
pierced with holes. 


352 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORM A TION. 


The word canon literally means a “tube,” a “cannon,” and is the 
name given in western North America to a deep gorge or river ravine, 
between high precipitous cliffs. One of the best examples is the far- 
famed Canon of the Colorado. 

Round Robin is the designation of a protest in writing, having the 
subscribers’ names written in the form of a circle, so that no name ap¬ 
pears first on the list. The custom is said to have originated amongst 
the officers of the French army. 

Black and white beans or stones were used in very ancient times by 
the Greeks and Romans for voting at trials, the white acquitting and the 
black condemning. From this arose the modern custom of casting 
white and black balls at club and other elections. 

The familiar term Blouse is the French name for a loose, sacklike 
over-garment somewhat answering to the English smock-frock. France 
is pre-eminently the country of blouses, ordinarily blue, worn not only 
by the country-people, but by workmen in towns. 

A term applied to an intense admiration of the First Napoleon and 
his regime was Chauvinism. It is now applied to the political party in 
France which has for its object the aggrandisement of the Republic. It 
may be called an equivalent term to the English Jingoism. 

In the social and economic sense of the word, co-operation generally 
means the association of work-people for the management of their own 
industrial interests, in store, workshop, or other undertaking, and the 
equitable distribution of profits among those who earn them. 

A curious punishment in vogue amongst the Chinese, Turks and 
Persians, is that called the “Bastinado.” The offender is thrown on his 
face, his feet fastened to a long stick, by which they are held with the 
soles upwards, and blows are then made on the soles with a cane. 

Clubs are organizations of persons of similar professions, politics, or 
tastes for the promotion of some object. Many clubs have played an 
important part in history and some of those now existing in the great 
cities have a well-defined influence on manners, politics, and progress. 

In 1877 the newspaper Nationale of Paris had ten pigeons which 
carried dispatches daily between Versailles and Paris in fifty to twenty 
minutes. In November, 1882, some pigeons, in face of a strong wind, 
made the distance of 160 miles from Canton Vaud to Paris in 6jT hours, 
or 25 miles per hour. 

Derby Day is the day on which the racing for the stakes instituted 
by Lord Derby in 1780 takes place on Epsom Downs, England. It is 
a great holiday for Londoners, and all classes are to be seen jostling 
together. The procession of people returning in the evening is a great 
sight, but, owing to the greater number traveling by rail, is less so than 
.formerly. It is generelly held on the Wednesday following Trinity 
Sunday. 

The total number of newspapers published in the world at present is 
estimated at about 40,000, distributed as follows: United States, 15,000; 
Germany, 5,500; Great Britain, 5,000. France, 4,092; Japan, 2,000; Italy, 
1,400; Austria-Hungary, 1,200; Asia, exclusive of Japan, 1,000; Spain, 
850; Russia, 800; Australia, 700; Greece, 600; Switzerland, 450; Hol¬ 
land, 300; Belgium, 300; all others, 1,000. Of these about half are printed 
in the English language. 


THE WORLD AND ITS WA YS. 


353 


A A^ a11 mon . e y*g ift to persons in an inferior condition on the day 
after Chistmas, is termed a Christmas-Box, which is hence popularly 
called Boxing-day. The term, and also the custom, are essentially 
English, though the making of presents at this season and at the New 
Year is of great antiquity. 

Silver spoons whose handles ended in figures of the apostles, a common 
baptismal present in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, were called 
Apostle Spoons. The fashion has been revived in America in the cus¬ 
tom of presenting “Souvenir” spoons on returning from a journey to a 
place of uncommon interest. 

Following are the society titles of wedding anniversaries: First, 
cotton; second, paper; third, leather; fifth, wooden; seventh, woolen; 
tenth, tin; twelfth, silk and fine linen; fifteenth, crystal; twentieth,’ 
china; twenty-fifth, silver; thirtieth, pearl; fortieth, ruby; fiftieth, 
golden; seventy-fifth, diamond. 

Suttee was a usage long prevalent in India, in accordance with which 
on the death of her husband the faithful widow burned herself on the 
funeral pyre along with her husband’s body, or, if he died at a distance, 
was burned on a pyre of her own. The practice was in use in India as 
early as the times of the Macedonian Greeks. 

Charivari is the name given in the middle ages to an assemblage of 
rag-a-inuffins, armed with tin kettles, pans and fire shovels, who gathered, 
in the dark, outside the house of an obnoxious person to torment him by 
their hideous noise. The practice was denounced by the Council of 
Trent but still lingers in France and elsewhere. 

Hue and cry is a phrase derived from the old process of pursuit with 
horn and voice, used in old English law to describe the pursuit of felons. 
Whoever arrested the person pursued was protected; and it was the duty 
of all persons to join in a hue and cry. The Hue and Cry , a police 
gazette for advertising criminals, was established in 1710. 

A corsair is a pirate or sea-robber, and especially any of those rovers 
who in former times cruised from the Barbary ports, as Algiers, Tunis or 
Tripoli, and became the terror of merchantmen in the Mediterranean 
and the Atlantic Ocean, ravaging the coasts and seizing shipping as far 
north as Cornwall, Baltimore in Cork, and even Iceland. 

In Italy, where the term originated, and in the continental watering 
places, the casino is a place where musical or dancing soirees are held, 
containing a conversation-room, billiard-room, and rooms for other kinds 
of amusement, as well as small apartments where refreshments may be 
had. In England a dancing saloon is sometimes termed a casino. 

The invention of chess is attributed to Palamedes, about 680 B.c., 
though also attributed to the Hindus. It is a game of skill played 
with figures on a chequered board. It continues to be a favorite with 
all civilized nations and chess-clubs have long been established in the 
chief cities. An international chess congress was held at London in 
1851. 

Carol was originally a term for a dance, or for songs intermingled with 
dance, came afterwards to signify festive songs, particularly such as were 
sung at Christmas. In England the practice of singing Christmas carols 
was widely spread as early as the fifteenth century, to which date belong 
many of the carols printed in the collections of Ritson, Wright and 
Sandys. 


354 


MANUAL OF USEFUL IN FORM A TION. 


Shillelagh is the cudgel carried by the conventional Irishman, with 
which he is supposed to delight to play upon the heads of his friends on 
occasion. The name is borrowed from the once famous oak-forest of 
Shillelagh in the southwest corner of County Wicklow, which in Rufus’ 
day furnished “cobwebless beams ” for the roof of Westminster Hall. 

The bilge is that part of the bottom of a ship nearest to the keel, 
and always more nearly horizontal than vertical. A ship usually rests 
on the keel and one side of the bilge when aground. The name of bilge- 
water is given to water which finds its way into the bilge or lowest part 
of a ship, and which, when not drawn off by the pump, becomes dirty 
and offensive. 

A man w T alks 3 miles an hour; a slow river flows 3 miles an hour; 
a fast river, 7 miles; a trotting horse, 7 miles; a moderate wind blows 7 
miles; sailing vessels, 10 miles; steamboats, 18 miles; a running horse, 
20 miles; a storm, 36 miles; a hurricane, 80 miles; sound, 743 miles; 
a rifle ball, 1,000 miles; light, 192,000 miles a second: electricity, 288,000 
miles a second. 

The game at cards called Besiqne , is played with a double pack, in 
which the objects are principally to promote in the hand certain combina¬ 
tions which, when “declared,” entitle the holder to score, and to win cer¬ 
tain cardsof a particular value. There are practically no restrictions in the 
game; it is not necessary to follow suit; and two, three, or four players 
may engage in it. 

Salmagundi is a word of uncertain origin, unless it be derived from 
the Countess Salmagondi, lady of honor to Marie de’ Medici and the in¬ 
ventor of the dish; for salmagundi is a dish of minced meat, seasoned 
with pickled cabbage, eggs, anchovies, olive-oil, vinegar, pepper, and 
similar ingredients. In an applied sense the words means a pot-pourri, 
a medley, a miscellany. 

The proletariate used to denote the lowest and poorest classes of the 
community. It is derived, through the French, from the Latin prole- 
tarii , the name given in the census of Servius Tullius to the lowest of 
the centuries, who were so called to indicate that they were valuable to 
the state only as rearers of offspring. The word has come much into use 
in the literature of socialism. 

The truck system is the system of paying wages in goods instead of 
money. Owing to the numerous abuses arising from this system it was 
abolished in Great Britain by the Act of 1831, which provided wages 
should be paid in money. As the result of a commission which sat in 
1870, the previous Act was amended by the Act of 1887. The same sys¬ 
tem has prevailed to a large extent in the mining districts of the United 
States, and still exists in a few places. 

Seraglio is an Italian word meaning “enclosure” (from sera , “a bolt”), 
once used in English for any enclosure such as the Jews’ Ghetto at Rome, 
but now restricted to mean a harem or suite of women’s apartment, ap¬ 
parently from a confusion with the similar but totally distinct Persian 
(and Turkish) word serai, “a king’s court,” “palace,” also “a caravan¬ 
serai. The Seraglio {eski serai , “old palace”), the ancient residence of 
the sultan at Constantinople, stands in a beautiful situation, where Stam- 
boul juts farthest into the Bosphorus, and encloses within its walls a va¬ 
riety of mosques, gardens, and large edifices, the chief of which is the 
Harem. 


THE WORLD AND ITS WAYS. 


355 


A popular game of ball much played in Canada and recently intro¬ 
duced into this country, is lacrosse. It had its origin in a game of the 
native Indians. Lacrosse is played by twenty-four persons equally 
divided into two sides. The object of the game is similar to that of foot¬ 
ball. The implements used are a ball and a curved stick (the crosse ) with 
a catgut net stretched at the end. 

The Cornwallis is a sort of mummers’ procession once held in the 
United States to commemorate the struggle for independence, typified 
by the surrender at York Town in 1781. Prior to this Cornwallis made 
himself formidable to the Americans in the battle of Brandywine, by the 
reduction of Charleston, and his victories at Camden and Guilford. The 
term and practice' are alike now obsolete. 

The term claque is the name given to an institution for securing the 
success of a play or performance, by bestowing upon it preconcerted 
applause, and thus giving the public, who are not in the secret, a false 
notion of the impression it has made The claque is of great antiquity, 
having been in use in the time of Nero, but now prevails chiefly in French 
theatres. The paid, applauders are called “claqueurs.” 

The frugal Scottish dish, brose, is made by pouring boiling water, 
milk, or the liquor in which meat has been boiled, on oatmeal, and mix¬ 
ing the ingredients by immediate stirring. Butter may be added, and 
sweet milk when the brose is made with water. It is kail-brose , wattr- 
brose ox beef-brose, according to the liquid used. Athole-brose , a famous 
Highland cordial, is a compound of honey and whisky. 

The charade is a form of amusement which consists in dividing a 
word of one or more syllables into its component syllables, or into its com¬ 
ponent letters, predicating something of each; and then, having reunited 
the whole, and predicated something of that also, the reader or listener 
is asked to guess the word. The acted charade is a presentation of the 
parts of the problem in dramatic form, usually as a parlor pastime. 

Curfew was a bell rung in early days in England, and long previously 
in other countries, the object of which was to warn the people to cover 
up their fires and retire to rest. The time for ringing these bells was 
sunset in summer, and about eight o’clock in winter; and certain 
penalties were imposed upon those who did not attend to the signal. 
The prevention of fires was the original purpose, but the name has passed 
into literature as a synonym for nightfall. 

The history of the Great Mogul Diamond runs back to b.c. 56, 
but little is known of it till the fourteenth century, when it 
was held by the rajah of Malwa. Later on it fell into the hands of the 
sultans of Delhi, after their conquest of Malwa. Tavernier tells us he 
saw it among the jewels of Aurengzebe, and says in the rough state it 
weighed 793 yi carats. The Shah Djihan sent it to Hortensio Borgio, a 
Venetian lapidary, to be cut, when it was reduced to 186 carats. 

The habit of eating human flesh as food, known as Cannibalism, or 
Anthropophagy, is widely spread at the present moment among many 
of the lower races, but has also not infrequently held its place even 
among peoples at a comparatively high level of culture. There is per¬ 
haps no quarter of the globe which has been free from what appears to 
our eyes a practice essentially so degrading to human nature, but one 
hardly so repellent to minds that hold no very exalted notions of the 
inherent superiority of the human animal. 


356 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


A horse will travel 400 yards in 4 ]/ 2 minutes at a walk; 400 yards in 
2 minutes at a trot; 400 yards in 1 minute at a gallop. He can carry 250 
pounds 25 miles in 8 hours. An average draught horse can draw 1,600 
pounds 23 miles on a level road, weight of carriage included. The aver¬ 
age weight of a horse is 1,000 lbs., and his strength is equal to 5 men. 
A horse will live 25 days on water without solid food; 17 days without 
eating or drinking; but only 5 days on solid food without drinking. 

Australians of the colony of Victoria give the name of “Black Thurs¬ 
day” to Thursday, February 6, 1851, when the most terrible bush fire 
known in the annals of the colony occurred. It raged over an immense 
area. One writer in the newspapers of the time said that he rode at 
headlong speed for fifty miles, with fire raging on each side of his route. 
The heat was felt far out at sea, and many birds fell dead on the decks 
of coasting vessels. The destruction of animal life and farming stock in 
this conflagration was enormous. 

Jeunesse Doree (“gilded youth”), a party name given to those 
young men of Paris who, during the French Revolution, struggled to 
bring about the reaction or counter-revolution after Robespierre’s fall 
(27th July, 1794). Other nicknames bestowed upon the same party were 
Muscadins (“scented darlings”) and Petits-Maitres (“elegants”). The 
term jeunesse doree is still in use to designate young men about town, 
who always go elegantly dressed, have the air of spending money, and 
live a butterfly life of enjoyment and pleasure. 

The first English sparrow was brought to the United States in 1850, 
but it was not until 1870 that the species can be said to have firmly estab¬ 
lished itself. Since then it has taken possession of the country. Its fecun¬ 
dity is amazing. In the latitude of New York and southward it hatches, 
as a rule, five or six broods in a season, with from four to six young in a 
brood. Assuming the average annual product of a pair to be twenty-four 
young, of which half are females and half males, and assuming further, 
for the sake of computation, that all live, together with their offspring, 
it will be seen that in ten years the progeny of a single pair would be 275,- 
716,983,698. 

The socialistic society called Brook Farm, had its locale in the vi¬ 
cinity of Boston. Every member contributed to the general fund or paid 
his quota in manual or other work. The idea was suggested by Mar¬ 
garet Fuller, but the society was organized by the Rev. W. H. Channing. 
The members boarded in common, dressed most economically, bought 
at their own stores, and reduced the price of living to the lowest point. 
The evening were spent in intellectual amusements or social gatherings. 
The speculation was an utter failure, and after six years the “Farm” was 
broken up. Emerson often visited the Farm, and Hawthorne lived there 
for twelve months. 

The township, or vill, the oldest proprietary and political unit of the 
Germanic races was an organized self-acting group of families exercising 
ownership over a definite area, the mark. The oldest English manors 
are coterminous with townships; the parish, a later division than the 
township, and originally purely ecclesiastical, is assumed to be equiva¬ 
lent to the township if there is no evidence to the contrary. In the 
United States the word is variously used (1) of a subdivision of a county; 
(2) the corporation composed of the inhabitants of such area; or some¬ 
times (3) of municipal corporations only less fully organized and with 
fewer powers than a city. 


THE WORLD AND ITS WAYS. 


357 


The apartments in which Indian women are secluded, correspond¬ 
ing to the harem in Arabic-speaking Moslem lands is called the zenana. 
In India the Mahommedan women are much in the same position as the 
women in the other less bigoted Mahommedan countries. Amongst 
those of the Hindu faith the women of all castes are more or less secluded, 
especially among the well-to-do. Till about 1860, when zenana missions 
were organized in Bengal by Mr. Fordyce, Christian women were not 
allowed to enter a Hindu zenana. Now thousands of Hindu ladies are 
taught by British, American and native Christian women, some ofwhom 
are completely trained medical missionaries. 

Punishment by death was originally the form of punishment for all 
felonies; it is now restricted to cases of murder. Several attempts have 
been made in England to abolish it. Capital punishment has been abol¬ 
ished in the following European countries: Belgium (1863), Switzerland 
(1*874), Roumania (1864), Holland (1879). In Sweden, Denmark, North 
Germany, Austria, France, and Bavaria there exists unwillingness to 
enforce capital punishment. In several States in the United States— eg., 
Michigan, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, and Maine—imprisonment for life 
has been substituted for capital punishment. In New York electrocu¬ 
tion has been adopted as a mode of punishment. 

A favorite amusement of the “good old times” with a certain regi¬ 
ment quartered at Kilkenny, was to tie two cats together by the tails, 
swing them over a line, and watch their ferocious attacks upon each 
other in their struggles to get free. It was determined to put down this 
cruel “sport”; and one day, just as two unfortunate cats were swung, 
the alarm was given that the colonel was riding up post haste. An officer 
present cut through their tails with his sword and liberated the cats, 
which scampered off before the colonel arrived. Another story is that 
two cats fought in a saw-pit so ferociously that each swallowed the other, 
leaving only the tails behind to tell of the wonderful encounter. 

In the early ages of society, almost everywhere, it was looked upon 
as the duty of the next of kin as the avenger of blood to avenge the death 
of a murdered relative; but among some primitive peoples, as the mod¬ 
ern Bedouins, as among the ancient Anglo-Saxons, the right is annulled 
by compensation. The Mosaic law did not set aside this universal in¬ 
stitution of primitive society, but placed it under regulations, prohibit¬ 
ing the commutation of the penalty of death for money, and appointing 
cities of refuge for the involuntary manslayer. The wilful murderer was, 
in all cases whatever, to be put to death without permission of compen¬ 
sation. The nearest relative, whose duty it was to hunt down the 
murderer, was called Goel , the “redeemer” or “avenger.” 

Many scholars contend that a great part of Europe must have been 
brought into cultivation by means of village communities. A clan of 
settlers took a tract of land, built their huts thereon, and laid out com¬ 
mon fields, which they cultivated in common as one family. The land 
was divided out every few years into family lots, but the whole continued 
to be cultivated by the community subject to the established customs as 
interpreted in the village council by the sense of the village elders. This 
may yet be seen in the villages of Russia, and even in some parts of Eng¬ 
land may still be traced the ancient boundaries of the great common 
field, divided lengthwise into three strips (one fallow, the two others in 
different kinds of crop), and again crosswise into lots held by the 
villagers. 


358 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Ghee (Ghi) is a kind of clarified butter used in many parts of India, 
and generally prepared from the milk of buffaloes. The fresh milk is 
boiled for an hour or more; it is then allowed to cool, and a little cur¬ 
dled milk, called dhye, is added to promote coagulation. The curdled 
mass is churned for half an hour; some hot water is then added, and the 
churning continued for another half hour, when the butter forms. When 
the butter begins to become rancid, which is usually the case after a 
few days, it is boiled till all the water contained in it is expelled, and a 
little dhye and salt, or betel-leaf, is added; after which it is put into 
closed pots to be kept for use. It is used to an enormous extent by the 
natives of many parts of India, but is seldom relished by Europeans. 

The vigilance societies include not only regulators and other extreme 
exponents of lynch law, but also the illegal associations which spring up 
from time to time in all parts of the country for the compulsory im¬ 
provement of local morals, and the punishment of those who ’either re¬ 
fuse or fail sufficiently to reform their lives. Such organizations as the 
White Caps, at home in the eastern and central states, have for their pro¬ 
fessed objects the suppression of vice and idleness; they send formal 
warnings to those citizens whom they consider to be neglectful of their 
homes, too partial to card playing, drinking, etc.; and if this warning be 
disregarded, inflict such punishment as whipping, destruction of prop¬ 
erty, etc. The methods of the modern White Caps are the same as those 
of the Ku-Klux Klan. 

University extension has for its object the provision of “the means of 
higher education for persons of all classes, and of both sexes engaged in 
the regular occupations of life. ’ ’ This movement commenced with the 
University of Cambridge in 1872, and w T as subsequently taken up by Ox¬ 
ford University, the London Society for the extension of University 
Teaching-Dublin University, Owens College, Manchester, the Scottish 
Universities, the University of Sydney, New South Wales, and the Chau¬ 
tauqua Home Reading Club in the United States. In 1890 Cambridge, 
Oxford, and the London Society had two hundred and twenty-seven 
centers, seventy-nine lectures, and 40,336 students attending lectures. 
The lecture-study system was organized in the United States at the 
University of Pennsylvania. Other institutions, notably the University 
of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin have engaged in the work, 
and many centers for lectures and study in history, science, art, and 
literature have been formed. 

The Koh-i-noor, i.e., “Mountain of Light,” one of the largest dia¬ 
monds in the world, came into the possession of Ala-u-din soon after 
1300.. It fell to Baber in 1526, and subsequently to Mahommed Shah, 
great-grandson of Aurengzebe, who kept it hidden in his turban; but 
when Nadir Shah took possession of Delhi, Mahommed had to give the 
diamond to the conqueror. It passed in succession to Shah Shuja, and 
when driven from Cabul he carried it to Lahore, when Runjeet Sing got 
possession of it and had it set in a bracelet, 1813. After the annexation 
of the Punjaub by the English the crown jewels of Lahore were confis¬ 
cated, and the Koh-i-noor was presented to Queen Victoria by the East 
India Company and delivered into her hands June 3, 1850. In 1889, in 
a most insolent letter, Runjeet Sing demanded its restitution. Its weight 
was 18 6)4 carats. It was exhibited in the Great Exhibition of 1851, and 
valued at 140,000/. By order of the Queen it was cut into a brilliant by 
Herr Voorsanger, whereby the weight was reduced to 106 Jg carats. 


THE WORLD AND ITS WAYS. 


359 


The “rule of the road” in the United States is “turn to the right,” in 
England it is the reverse. The rule holds in this country in the case 
where two vehicles going in opposite diections meet. When one vehicle 
overtakes another the foremost gives way to the left and the other passes 
by on the “offside,” and when a vehicle is crossing the direction of 
another it keeps to the left and crosses in its rear. These two rules are 
the same in this country and in England, and why the rule concerning 
meeting vehicles should have been changed it is impossible to say. We 
find this point of difference noted by all authorities, but no reason for it 
is ever suggested. Probably, as it is easier to turn to the right than to 
the left, it was adopted as the more preferable custom in some of the early 
colonies, and in due time became embodied in local law, and thus was 
handed down to later time. 

The Molly Maguires was an Irish secret society which during the 
ten years preceding 1877 terrorized the coal regions of Pennsylvania. 
The name was imported from Ireland, where it had been adopted by a 
branch of the Ribbonmen, whose outrages by night were perpetrated in 
female disguise. The object of the organization in Pennsylvania ap¬ 
pears, to have been to secure for its members, as far as possible, the ex¬ 
clusive political power in the eastern part of the State. Murders were 
committed in the open day, though much more usually by night; and 
the terror of the society was on all the coal country until, in 1876-77, a 
number of the leaders were convicted and executed, mainly by the evi¬ 
dence of a detective named McParlan, who had acted for three years as 
secretary of the Shenandoah division. 

Capacity of the largest public buildings in the world: Coliseum, 
Rome, 87,000; St. Peter’s, Rome, 54,000; Theatre of Pompey, Rome, 
40,000; Cathedral, Milan, 37,000; St. Paul’s, Rome, 32,000; St. Paul's, 
London, 31,000; St. Petronia, Bologna, 26,000; Cathedral, Florence, 24,- 
300; Cathedral, Antwerp, 24,000; St. John Lateran, Rome, 23,000; St. 
Sophia’s, Constantinople, 23,000; Notre Dame, Paris, 21,500; Theatre of 
Marcellus, Rome, 20,000; Cathedral, Pisa, 13,000; St. Stephen’s, Vienna, 
12,400; St. Dominic’s, Bologna, 12,000; St. Peters, Bologna, 11,400; Ca¬ 
thedral, Vienna, 11,000; Gilmore’s Garden, New York, 8,443; La Scala, 
Milan, 8,000; Auditorium, Chicago, 7,000; Mormon Temple, Salt Lake 
City, 8,000; St. Mark’s, Venice, 7,500; Spurgeon’s Tabernacle, London, 
6,000; Bolshoi Theatre, St. Petersburg, 5,000; Tabernacle (Talmage’s), 
Brooklyn, 5,000; Music Hall, Cincinnati, 4,824. 

The acclimated word boulevard is simply the name given in France 
to a broad street or promenade planted with rows of trees. Originally it 
was applied to the bulwark portion of a rampart, then to the promenade 
laid out on a demolished fortification. The boulevards of Pans are the 
most famous. The line from the Madeleine to the Bastille became a 
walk in the days of Louis XIV., and then a street. But many so-called 
recent boulevards in Paris and elsewhere are simply new and handsome 
streets, planted with trees, and have no relation to old fortifications at 
all. Some parts of them present a very dazzling spectacle, and, as a 
whole, they afford a striking exhibition of the life and character of the 
French capital in all the different classes of society. The Boulevard de 
la Madeleine , des Capucines , and Montmartre are the most notable. The 
Thames Embankment is a boulevard in the usual sense of the term. In 
the United States the term is applied to all streets on which no traffic 
teams are permitted. 


360 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


In feudal times villeins were a species of serfs who cultivated the 
portion of the manor reserved by the feudal lord for himself. They were 
bound to the soil; they could not leave the manor, and their service was 
compulsory; but they were allowed by the feudal lord to cultivate por¬ 
tions of land for their own use. These lands, which they held “at the 
will of the lord, according to the custom of the manor ”—custom which 
was in such case entered in the roll of the court-baron—frequently passed 
from father to son, until a prescriptive right in them was acquired; and 
the villeins, whose sole title was an authenticated copy of these entries, 
came in time to be called tenants by copy of court-roll, and their tenures 
copyholds. Villeinage was never formally abolished in England, but it 
ceased to exist in the sixteenth century. 

Hari-kari is a term applied to the curious Japanese system of official 
suicide, obsolete since 1868. The Japanese estimated the number of such 
suicides at 500 per annum. All military men, and persons holding civil 
offices under the government, were held bound, when they committed an 
offence, to disembowel themselves. This they performed in a solemn 
and dignified manner, in presence of officials and other witnesses, by 
one or two gashes with a short sharp sword or dagger 9)4 inches long. 
Personal honor having been saved by the self-inflicted wound, the execu¬ 
tion was completed by a superior executioner, who gave the coup de 
grace by beheading the victim with one swinging blow from a long 
sword. Japanese gentlemen were trained to regard the hari-kari as an 
honorable expiation of crime or blotting out of disgrace. 

The most dreadful earthquake on record is that which, November 1, 
1775, destroyed the city of Lisbon, Portugal. The only warning the in¬ 
habitants received was a noise like subterranean thunder, which, without 
any considerable interval, was followed by a succession of shocks which 
laid in ruins almost every building in the city, with a most incredible 
slaughter of the inhabitants (60,000). The bed of the river Tagus w T as in 
many places raised to the surface, and vessels on the river suddenly found 
themselves aground. The waters of the river and the sea at first retreated 
and then immediately rolled violently in upon the land, forming a wave 
over forty feet in elevation. To complete the destruction a large quay, 
upon which great numbers of the people had assembled for security, sud¬ 
denly sank to such an unfathomable depth that not one body ever after¬ 
wards appeared at the surface. 


TITLES, OFFICES AND DIGNITIES. 

The word police comes from polis, a city. 

Knight in the original Saxon means “ a boy.” 

Beg, not bey, is the title of a Turkish governor. 

Oliver Cromwell’s title was The Lord Protector. 

In Scotland the mayor of a town is called provost. 

Duke means a leader and was first a military title. 
Lieutenant means literally “ holding the place of.” 
Garter-King-at-Arms is the chief herald of England. 
Lords of Appeal, in England, are made peers for life. 

“ The grand old gardener ” is a poet’s title for Adam. 
The Order of the Garter is Britain’s highest knighthood. 



THE WORLD AND ITS WAVS. 


361 


Earl mearis an elder. Its continental equivalent is Count. 

A marquis was originally the governor of a frontier province. 

Lictors were the servants who attended on Roman chief magistrates. 

Mandarin is a Portuguese, not a native, title for Chinese high officials. 

The Great Seal of England is the symbol of the Lord Chancellor’s 
office. 

. Originally a sheik was an Arab chief ; now applied to Moslem disr- 
mtanes. 

The rank of admiral was first created in this country (1866) to honor 
Earragut. ' 

Masters in Chancery were originally the assistants to the Lord 
Chancellor. 


The King-Maker was a title given to Richard Nevil, Earl of Warwick 
(1420-1471). 

Prince Rupert (1619-1682) was called the Mad Cavalier because of 
his reckless daring. 

Lords Spiritual is the title of the bishops who have seats in the 
British House of Lords. 


Incas was the name given by the ancient Peruvians to their kings 
and princes of the blood. 

The Master of the Rolls is a British Judge of Chancery who keeps 
the records of that court. 

His small stature and original army rank caused Napoleon to be 
called The Little Corporal. 

Robert of Normandy, father of William the Conqueror, well earned 
the title of Robert the Devil. 


The Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) was dubbed Corporal John by 
the soldiers who served under him. 

Sahib, an Arabic word signifying ‘ ‘lord’ ’ is the title of courtesy be¬ 
stowed by Hindus upon Europeans. 

The Iron Duke and Marshal Forward were both popular titles of the 
Duke of Wellington, the victor of Waterloo. 

Peers of the House of Lords are generally designated Lords Tem¬ 
poral in contradistinction to the Lords Spiritual. 

The title applied to the younger princes of the royal houses of Spain 
and Portugal is Infante. A princess is styled Infanta. 

Titles of courtesy are those titles allowed to the relatives of British 
peers by social usage, but to which they have no legal right. 

• An officer appointed by a king or nobleman, or by a corporation, to 
perform domestic and ceremonial duties, is called a Chamberlain. 

Overbury says: The man who has nothing to boast of but his illus¬ 
trious ancestry is like a potato—the best part of him is under ground. 

The Order of the Bath was constituted by Henry IV. in 1399. It 
comprises Knights Grand Cross, Knights Commanders and Companions. 

A commoner is anyone in England under the rank of nobility; also 
a member of the House of Commons. At some of the great schools and 
at Oxford, a class of students eating at the common table are likewise 
termed commoners. 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


362 


Archduke and archduchess are titles now borne by all the sons and 
daughters of an emperor of Austria, and by their descendants through 
the male line. 

The grade of titles in Great Britain stands in the following order 
from the highest: A prince, duke, marquis, earl, viscount, baron, 
baronet, knight. 

Scholarship, a benefaction, generally of the annual proceeds of a be¬ 
quest permanently invested, paid for the maintenance of a student at a 
university or at a school. 

A charge d’affaires is a fourth-class diplomatic agent,accredited not to 
the sovereign, but to the department for foreign affairs; he also holds his 
credentials only from the minister. 

Defender of the Faith was the title first given to Henry VIII. by 
pope Leo X., for a volume against Luther, in defense of the seven sacra¬ 
ments. The original volume is in the Vatican. 

. Advocatus Diaboli is one appointed to advance every conceivable 
reason why a person whose name is submitted for canonization should 
not be admitted into the calendar of the saints. 

The Bast Indian term Begum is a title of honor equivalent to “prin¬ 
cess,” conferred on the mothers, sisters or wives of native rulers. The 
Begum of Oudh is well known in Indian history. 

The name Darbyites is often applied to the Plymouth brethren from 
their principal founder, John Nelson Darby (1800-82), of whose collected 
writings thirty-two volumes have appeared (1867-83). 

The old name for Christmas, Yule, is still used in Scotland and the 
north of England, and retained in the term “yule-log.” It was origin¬ 
ally, in England and Scandinavia, the festival of the winter solstice. 

The Imperial Order of the Crown of India was instituted January 1, 
1878. The Queen, the Princess of Wales, the princesses of the blood 
royal, and distinguished ladies, British and Indian, constitute the order. 

Chouans were bands of royalist Breton peasants organized during the 
French Revolution, -1792, by three brothers, named Cottereau. The 
bands got their name from Chat-huant , screech owl, whose cry was their 
signal. They were suppressed in 1830. 

The familiar term “boss” is a modified form of the Dutch baas , 
master, and used in the United States tor an employer of labor, or a local 
political chief; and in Britain is a slang word, or is employed humor¬ 
ously. To “boss” is to play the master. 

The commandant is the officer, of whatever rank, in command of a 
fortress or military post of any kind. The title is also given to an officer 
commanding a larger body of troops than is proper to his rank, as cap¬ 
tain-commandant, lieutenant-commandant. 

The cardinal is the highest dignitary in the Roman Catholic Church, 
next to the popes, who are selected from the cardinals. The cardinals are 
divided into three classes , six bishops, fifty priests and fourteen deacons, 
never more than seventy who constitute the Sacred College. 

A Chatelaine is the wife of the chatelain or commander of a feudal 
castle. A chaine chdtelaine or simply chatelaine , a chain such as a lady 
chatelaine might wear, is a chain depending from the waist, to which 
are attached keys, scissors, and other appliances of housewifery. 


THE WORLD AND ITS WAYS. 


363 


Crest is a heraldic figure or ornament, which in its original use sur¬ 
mounted the helmet. Though often popularly regarded'as the most 
important part of the heraldic insignia of a family, it is, in the eyes of 
heralds, merely an accessory, without which the bearing is complete. 

Ambassadors in early days received no salary, the honor of serving 
a monarch being deemed more than a compensation for their services. 
Nor did they ever tender pay for their lodging at a foreign court, but in¬ 
stead expected to receive at their departure presents of considerable value. 

Chevalier w r as a honorary title given, especially in the eighteenth 
century, to younger sons of French noble families. Their indolence 
and impecuniosity not seldom led them into devious ways, so that the 
term chevalier dl Industrie became a synonym for highwayman or swin¬ 
dler. 

A Spanish order instituted (1170) by Ferdinand II., to stop the in¬ 
roads of the Moors, was that of San Yago, or St. James. Proof of noble 
descent through four generations was required from the knights. The 
political power of the order ceased in 1522, and it has since been solely 
an order of nobility. 

The title of Count is of considerable antiquity. We find it used in 
mediaeval and modern Europe. Earl is in one view supposed to be anal¬ 
ogous to it, the Latin equivalent of each being the same, and the wife 
of an earl being a countess. In French the title is comte, Italian, conte , 
and in Spanish, condL 

Envoy is a diplomatic minister of the second order— i.e. inferior in 
rank to an ambassador. Like the latter, he receives his credentials im¬ 
mediately from the sovereign, though he represents not his prince’s per¬ 
sonal dignity, but only his affairs. The envoy is thus superior in rank 
to the Chargd d’Affaires. 

In the United States navy, commanders have a rank next below that 
of captain, and next above that of a lieutenant-commander, and rank 
with lieutenant-colonels in the army. The commander in the British 
navy is an officer next under a captain in rank, and serves either as 
second in command in a large ship, or in independent command of a 
smaller vessel. 

Sovereign, in politics, is the person or body of persons in whom the 
supreme executive and legislative power of a state is vested. In limited 
monarchies sovereignty is in a qualified sense ascribed to the king, who 
though the supreme magistrate, is not the sole legislator. A state in 
which the legislative authority is not trammeled by any foreign pow'er 
is called a sovereign state. 

The King of France: So the monarchs of France were called till 
October, 1789, when the National Assembly ordained that Louis XVI. 
should not be styled “King of France,” but “King of the French.” 
The royal title was abolished in France in 1792, but was restored in 1814. 
When Louis Philippe was invited in 1830 to take on himself the govern¬ 
ment, he was styled “King of the French.” 

The Mufti is a “doctor of the law” in the Mussulman religion. He 
interprets both the text and ideas of the Koran. The Grand Mufti, 
called the “Sheik-ul-Islam,” resides at Constantinople, and is head of 
the lawyers and priests or ulemas. His ordinances, called fetfas, must 
be blindly obeyed. It is the Grand Mufti who girds on the sultan’s 
sword at his coronation. Every town has its mufti. 


364 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION 


Khedive, a title granted in 1867 by the Sultan to his tributary the 
Viceroy of Egypt, and since then used by the latter as his official title. 
The word (pronounced as a dissyllable) is derived from Persian khidiv , . 
and means “sovereign.” It is therefore a more dignified title than the 
former one of vali, “viceroy.” 

Commander-in-chief is the highest staff appointment in the British 
army. After the death of the Duke of Wellington in 1852. this title, 
which had been borne by him for many years, was allowed to lapse. It 
was recently again bestowed on the Duke of Cambridge, in honor of his 
fifty years’ service in the army. 

Admiral is the title of the highest rank of naval officers. The office 
originated with the Arabs in Spain and Sicily, and was adopted with the 
name by the Genoese, French and the English under Edward III. as 
“ amyrel of the se.” Admirals are generally of three classes—admirals, 
vice-admirals and rear-admirals. 

In India, and especially in Bengal, the Zemindar is the landed pro¬ 
prietor, who pays the government land-revenue, as opposed to the ‘ ‘ryot, ’ ’ 
the actual cultivator of the soil. Under the Mogul government the 
zemindar was originally merely a government official, charged with the 
collection of the land revenue, and with no rights in the land. These he 
acquired under the Permanent Settlement of Lord Cornwallis. 

Sizar, the name of an order of students at Cambridge and Dublin 
universities, so called from the allowance of victuals (size) made to them 
from the college buttery. Duties of a somewhat menial kind, such as 
waiting upon the fellows at table, were originally required of the sizars, 
but these have long since gone into disuse. At Oxford there w^as form¬ 
erly a somewhat similar order of students denominated Servitors. 

Dauphin was the title of the eldest son of the French king, and origin¬ 
ally that of the sovereign lords of the province of Dauphine, who bore a 
dolphin as their crest. The last of these, the childless Humbert III., 
in 1343 bequeathed his possessions to Charles of Valois, grandson of 
Philippe VI. of France, on condition that the eldest son of the king of 
France should bear the title of Dauphin of Vienne, and govern the 
province. 

Czar (more properly Tsar, Tzar , or Zar ), the title of the emperors of 
Russia. The word occurs early in Old Slavonic, equivalent to king or 
kaiser , and is connected with the Latin Ccesar , continued in the Roman 
empire as a title of honor long after the imperial house itself had become 
extinct. In the Slavonic Bible the word basileus is rendered by czar; Caesar 
(kaisar) by Cesar. In the Russian chronicles also the Byzantine emper¬ 
ors are styled czars, as are also the khans of the Mongols who ruled 
over Russia. 

The grandees of Spain—“ grandes de Espana de primera clase”—are 
in some sort peers of the kingdom who enjoy certain privileges at 
court, though they are not, nor have ever been, legislators by right of 
birth. They are supposed to be by courtesy cousins of royalty, and they 
can always enter the palace and claim an audience of the sovereign at 
any time, while the greatest of Spanish untitled statesmen and generals 
must ask for and obtain an audience before they can enter the royal 
ante-chambers. Only the field marshals, the prelates, and the knights 
of the Golden Fleece enjoy the same footing as the grandees of the first 
class. 


THE WORLD AND ITS WA YS. 


365 


Sheikh (Arab., “elder,” “aged person”), a title applied to the chief¬ 
tain of an Arab tribe, to the principal preacher in a Mahommedan 
mosque, to the head of a religious order, and to a learned man or a 
reputed saint of Islam. The Sheikh ul-Islam at Constantinople is the 
head of the Mahommedan church; he is possessed of very great influ¬ 
ence and power. Sheikh al-Jebel (Old Man of the Mountain) was the 
name of the chief of the Assassins. 

Shah (Persian, “king,” “monarch,” “prince”), the general title of 
the supreme ruler in Persia, Afghanistan and other countries of southern 
and central Asia. The sovereign, however, may, and outside of Persia 
frequently does, decline the title, assuming in its place that of Khan, an 
inferior and more common appellation. The same title can also be 
assumed by the shah’s sons, and upon all the princes of the blood the 
cognomen Shah-zada (“king’s son”) is bestowed. 

Originally the word consul was applied to the two chief magistrates 
of the Roman republic. Later it was used of the chief magistrates of 
France after the Revolution when Bonaparte was First Consul. Now it 
is applied to that officer whom the government maintains in a foreign 
country for the protection of its trade and vindication of the rights of 
its merchants, and to whom the further duty is assigned of keeping the 
home governmeut informed of all facts bearing on the commercial in¬ 
terests of the country. 

The calif is the successor of Mahommed the prophet, both in tem¬ 
poral and spiritual power. At first there was but one calif, whose em¬ 
pire was called the califate, which for three centuries exceeded the 
Roman empire in extent; but in 970 there were three califates, viz. one 
at Bagdad, one at Cairo, and one at Cordeva. In 1031 the califate of Cor- 
deva ceased. In 1158 the calif of Bagdad fled to Egypt before the sword 
of the Monguls. In 1517 the Turks conquered Egypt, and the sultan 
thus became the one and only calif. 

In England the higher nobility consists of the five temporal ranks 
of the peerage—duke, marquis, earl, viscount and baron—who have seats 
in the House of Lords. The dignity was originally territorial. It is 
hereditary; but by the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, 1876 (amended 1887), 
a certain number of life peers have been created, styled Lords of Appeal 
in Ordinary. In England only the head of a noble family is noble; on 
the Continent all the members of a noble family are noble. Baronets, 
who belong to the lower nobility, were first created by James I. (1611). 

General: (1) The term is applied in the army to the rank next be¬ 
low field-marshal. There are three grades in the British service—viz., 
Genera], Lieutenant-General, and Major-General. (2) In the United 
States the rank of general, a higher rank than had before existed, was 
created by act of congress in 1866, and conferred on General Grant. It 
was subsequently conferred on Sherman and on Sheridan. The highest 
rank held by Washington was that of lieutenant-general, which is also 
usually that of the general-in-chief of the army. There is, of course, but 
one lieutenant-general; and by law there can be but three major-generals 
and six brigadier-generals. The general’s yearly pay is $13,500; the 
lieutenant-general’s is $11,000; the major-general’s, $7,500; the brigadier- 
general’s, $5,000. In the militia of some of the states there are major- 
generals and brigadier-generals, and the title of general as a form of ad¬ 
dress is in the-United States often given indiscriminately to those hold¬ 
ing these ranks. 


366 


MANUAL OF USEFUL IN FORM A TION. 


Sheriff, or shereef, designates a descendant of Mahommed through 
his daughter Fatima and Ali. The title is inherited both from the pater¬ 
nal and the maternal side, and thus the number of members of this 
aristocracy is very large among the Moslems. The men have the privi¬ 
lege of wearing green turbans, the women green veils, green being the 
prophet’s color. Many of these sheriffs founded dynasties in Africa; 
the line which rules in Morocco boasts of this proud designation. 

Promotion of officers by selection to a higher rank irrespective of 
there being any vacancies in its established numbers, is termed Brevet. 
A general promotion by Congress (July 6,1812), authorized the President 
to confer brevet rank on officers of the army distinguished for valor, or of 
ten years’ service in any one grade. Restricted by Act of Congress 
(April 16, 1818). On incorporation of Volunteers (March, 1863), it was 
decided that officers of the army of higher rank who had served with the 
Volunteers, might receive Volunteer brevet rank. In July, 1870, officers 
holding brevet commission were forbidden to wear any uniform except 
that of their actual rank, or to use any other title in official communi¬ 
cations. 


PREVIOUS WORLD’S FAIRS. 


YEAR. 

WHERE HELD. 

ACRES BLDGS. 

EXHIBITORS. 

ADMISSIONS. 

DAYS OPEN. 

1851 

London. 

21 

17,000 

6,039,195 

144 

1855 

Paris. 

24/2 

22,000 

5,162,330 

200 

1862 

London. 

23 >4 

29,000 

6,211,103 

171 

1867 

Paris. 

37 

52,000 

10,200,000 

217 

1873 

Vienna. 

40 

42.000 

7,254,687 

186 

1876 

Philadelphia. 

60 

60,000 

9,910,996 

159 

1878 

Paris. 

60 

52,000 

13,000,000 

494 

1889 

Paris.. 

75 % 

60,000 

32,354,111 

183 


REMARKABLE MODERN PLAGUES. 


DATE. 

PLACE. 

DEATHS. 

WEEKS. 

DEATHS PER WEEK. 

1656 

Naples. 

380,000 

28 

10.400 

1665 

London . 

68,800 

33 

2,100 

1720 

Marseilles. 

39,100 

36 

1,100 

1771 

Moscow,. 

87,800 

32 

2,700 

1778 

Constantinople. 

170,000 

18 

9 500 

1798 

Cairo.. 

88,000 

25 

3,500 

1812 

Constantinople.. 

144,000 

13 

11,100 

1834 

Cairo. . 

57,000 

18 

3,200 

1835 

Alexandria. 

14,900 

17 

900 

1871 

Buenos Ayres. 

26,300 

11 

2,400 


GREAT FAMINES OF HISTORY. 

Walford mentions 160 famines since the eleventh century, namely, 
England, 57; Ireland 34; Scotland, 12; France, 10; Germany, 11; Italy, 
etc., 36. The worst in modern times have been: 

COUNTRY. DATE. NO. OF VICTIMS. 

France. 1770 48,000 

Ireland. 1847 1,029,000 

India. 1866 1,450,COO 

Deaths from hunger and want were recorded as follows in 1879, ac¬ 
cording to Mulhall: Ireland, 3,789; England, 312; London, 101; France, 
260. The proportion per 1,000 deaths was, respectively, 37.6, .6, 1.2, .3. 










































THE WORLD AND ITS WAYS. 


367 


RULERS OF ALU NATIONS. 


Country. 


Abyssinia. 

Afghanistan. . 

Argentine Republic. 

Austria-Hungary. 

Baluchistan. 

Belgium. 

Bokhara. 

Bolivia. 

Brazil (United States of). 

Bulgaria. 

Chile. 

China. 

Colombia. 

Costa Rica. 

Denmark.. 

Dominican Republic. 

Ecuador. 

Egypt. 

France. 

Germany.. 

Prussia. 

Bavaria... 

Saxony. 

Wurtemburg. 

Baden . 

Hesse. 

Anhalt. 

Brunswick. 

Mecklenburg-Schwerin 
Mecklenburg-Strelitz .. 

Oldenburg. 

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 

Waldeck-Pyrmont. 

Great Britain,Ireland, etc. 

Greece. 

Guatemala...... 

Hawaii. 

Hayti.-.. 

Honduras. 

Italy. 

Japan. . 

Liberia. 

Luxemburg. 

Madagascar.. 

Mexico . 

Montenegro. 

Morocco. 

Nepaul. 

Netherlands. 

Nicaragua. 

Oman... 

Orange Free State. 

Paraguay. 

Persia.. 

Peru. 

Portugal. 

Roumania. 

Russia. 

Salvador. 

Sarawak. 

Servia. 

Siam. 

Spain. 

Sweden and Norway. 

Switzerland. 


a 


Ruler. 


Meuelek, Emperor (or Negus, . 

Abdur Rahman Khan, Amir . 

Dr. Luis Saenz Pena, President . 

Francis Joseph, Emperor . 

Mir Khodadal, Khan . 

Leopold II., King . 

Seia Abdul Ahad, Amir .;_ 

Don Aniceto Arce, President . 

General Floriano Peixoto, President . 

Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, Prince . 

Admiral Jorge Montt, President .. . 

Kuang Hsii, Emperor . 

Rafael Nunez, President . 

Josd J. Rodriguez, President . 

Christian IX., King.... . 

General Ulises Heureaux, President _ 

Don Condero, President . 

Abbas Pasha, Khedive . 

Marie Francois Sadi Carnot, President _ 

William II., Emperor . j 

William II., King .j 

Otto, King (Prince Luitpold, Regent . 

Albert, King .. 

William II., King . 

Frederick, Grand Duke . 

Louis V., Grand Duke . 

Frederick, Duke.. .. 

Prince Albrecht, Regent . 

Frederick Francis ill., Grand Duke . 

Frederick William, Grand Duke . 

Peter, Grand Duke . 

Ernest Albert, Duke ... 

George Victor, Prince . 

Victoria, Queen , etc . 

George, King . 

Gen. Josd Maria Reina Barrios, President 

Interregnum. 

General L. M. F. Hyppolyte, President... 

General Leiva, President . 

Humbert, King.. . 

Mutsu Hito, Emperor {or Mikado ). 

J. J. Cheesman, President . 

Adolphus, Grand Duke . 

Ranavalona III., Queen . 

General Porfirio Diaz, President . 

Nicholas, Prince .*. 

Muleyel Hassan, Sultan . 

Prithivi Beer Bikram Shum Shere Jung 

Bahadur, Maharaja . .. 

Wilhelmina (a minor), Queen . 

Dr. Robert Sacasa, President ... 

Seyyid Feysal bin Turkee, Sultan . 

Dr. F. W. Reitz, President .. 

Juan G. Gonzalez, President . 

Nasir-ed-Din, Shah . 

Col. Remjio Morales Bermudez, President. 

Dom Carlos, King . 

Charles, King . 

Alexander III., Emperor . 

General Carlos Ezeta, President . 

Sir Chas. Johnson Brooke, G.C.M.G., Raja 

Alexander (Obrenovitch), King . 

Phrabat Somdet Phra Yiihua, King . 

Alfonso XIII. (a minor), King . 

Oscar II., King . 

Walter Hauser, Resident . 


o 

m 

Acceded. 


12 March, 

1889 

1845 


1880 


12 Oct.. 

1892 

1830 

2 Dec., 

1848 



1857 

1835 

10 Dec., 

1865 


12 Nov., 

18a5 


15 Aug., 

1888 


23 Nov., 

1891 

1861 

7 July, 

1687 

1847 

19 Nov., 

1891 

1871 

12 Jan., 

1875 


7 Aug., 

1886 


8 May., 

1890 

1818 

15 Nov., 

1863 

.... 

1 Sept., 

1886 


30 June, 

1892 

1874 

7 Jan., 

1892 

1837 

3 Dec., 

1887 

1859 

15 June, 

1888 

1848 

13 June, 

1886 

1828 

29 Oct., 

1873 

1848 

6 Oct., 

1891 

1826 

5 Sept., 

1856 

1868 

13 March, 1892 

1831 

22 May, 

1871 

1837 

21 Oct., 

1885 

1851 

15 April, 

1883 

18 1 9 

6 Sept., 

1860 

1827 

27 Feb., 

1853 

1844 

29 Aug., 

1893 

1831 

15 May, 

1845 

1819 

20 June, 

1837 

1845 

30 (18) Mr. 1863 

.... 


1892 


17 Oct., 

1889 


1 Dec., 

1891 

1844 

9 Jan., 

1878 

1852 

13 Feb., 

1866 


7 Jan., 

1892 

1817 

23 Nov., 

1890 

1861 

13 July, 

1883 


1 Dec., 

1884 

1841 

14 Aug., 

1860 

1831 

25 Sept., 

1873 

1874 


1881 

1880 

23 Nov., 

1890 

.... 

1 March, 

1891 


4 Tune, 

1888 


18 Dec., 

1888 


25 Sept., 

1890 

11829 

10 Sept., 

1848 

1836 

10 Aug., 

1890 

1863 

19 Oct., 

1889 

1839 

26 March, 1881 

1845 

13 (1) Mr., 

1881 


11 Sept., 

1890 

1829 

11 June, 

1868 

1876 

6 March, 1889 

1853 

1 Oct., 

1868 

1886 

17 May, 

1886 

1829 

18 Sept., 

1872 


17 Dec., 

1891 
































































































































368 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 
RULERS OF ALL NATIONS.— Concluded. 


Country. 

Ruler. 

a 

c 

o 

M 

Adceded. 

Transvaal (S.A. Republic) 

Tripoli. 

Tunis 

S. J. P. Paul Kruger, President . 

Ahmed Rassim Pasha, Governor-General. 
Sidi Ali Pa*ha, Bey . 

1821 

1817 

1842 

1837 

April, 1883 
Nov., 1881 
28 Oct., 1882 
31 Aug., 1876 
4 March, 1893 
1 March, 1890 
10 Oct., 1892 
13 Feb., 1890 

Turkey. 

Abdul Hamid II., Sultan . 

United States (America). 

Uruguay.,.. 

Venezuela. 

Zanzibar. 

Grover Cleveland, President ... 

Dr. Julio Herrera y Obes, President . 

General Crespo, Provisional President.... 
Seyyid Ali, Sultan . 





AREA AND POPULATION OF THE CONTINENTS. 


The following table shows the area, population, and density of popu¬ 
lation in each of the divisions of the earth:— 



Area: square miles. 

Population. 

Population per square mile. 

Europe. 

3,797,410 

357,851,580 

94 

Asia. 

17,039,066 

825,954,000 

48 

Africa. 

11,518,104 

168,499,017 

14 

Australasia. 

3,458,029 

5,684,600 

1*6 

North America. 

7,952,386 

88,386,084 

11 

South America. 

6,844,602 

33,342,700 

5 


50,609,597 

1,479,717,981 

29 

Polar islands,. 

1,689,834 

11,170 

— 

Total. 

52,299,431 

1,479,729,151 

28 


SALARIES OF THE CROWNED HEADS. 


Austria-Hungary, Emperor of, $3,875,000. 

Bavaria, King of, $1,412,000. 

Belgium, King of, $660,000. 

Denmark, King of, $227,775; and Crown 
Prince. $33,330. 

Greece King of, $260,000, including $20,000 
a year each from Great Britain, France 
and Russia. 

Netherlands, King of, $250,000, also a large 
revenue from domains, and $62,500 for 
royal familv, courts, and palaces. 

Italy, King of, $2,858,000, of which $180,000 
for family. 

Norway and Sweden, King of $575,525. 

Portugal, King of, $634,440. 


Prussia, King of, $3,852,770; also a vast 
amount of private property, castles, for¬ 
ests, and estates, out of which the court 
expenditure and royal family are paid. 

Roumania, King of, $237,000.* 

Russia, Czar of, has private estates of more 
than 1,000,000 square miles of cultivated 
land and forests, besides gold and other 
mines in Siberia. The annual income 
has been estimated at about $12,000,000. 

Saxony, King of, $735,000. 

Servia, King of, $240,000. 

Spain, King of, $1,400,000, besides $600,000 
for family. 

Wurtemberg, King of, $449,050. 


CROSSING THE LINE. 

The first authentic account of the ordeal observed on board ship 
dates 1702. One sailor represents Neptune and another his wife 
Amphitrite; another his barber and the rest his suite. All dress in the 
most grotesque raiment they can obtain. A tarred topsail is formed 
into a bath, and a throne is provided for Neptune and his wife. Those 
midshipmen who have never crossed the line are then brought forth, 
while the men pour over them buckets of water, or play the fire hose 
into their faces. Their faces being tarred are scraped by the barber, and 
the victims are then soused into the bath provided. Here they are left to 
struggle out and make their escape as they best can. This horse-play is 
now almost entirely, and in most cases wholly abolished. 

















































THE WORLD AND ITS WA YS. 


369 


STATISTICS OF ALT THE CHIEF COUNTRIES. 


Countries. 


British Empire. 

China. 

Russian Empire. 

France and Colonies.. 

France . 

Colonies. 

United States. 

German Empire. 

Prussia.... 

Bavaria. 

Saxony. 

Wurtemberg. 

Baden. 

Alsace-Lorraine. 

Hesse. 

Mecklenburg-Schwerin — 

Hamburg. 

Brunswick. 

Oldenburg . 

Saxe-Weimar. 

Anhalt. 

Saxe-Meiningen. 

Saxe-Coburg Gotha. 

Bremen.. 

Saxe-Altenburg. 

Lippe. 

Reuss (younger line). 

Mecklenburg-Strelitz.. .. 

Schwarzburg-Rud. 

Schwarzburg-Son. 

Lubeck. 

Waldeck. 

Reuss (elder line). 

Schaumburg Lippe.... 
Austro-Hungarian Empire . 

Japan.. 

Netherlands and Colonies .. 

Turkish Empire... 

Italy._. 

Spain and Colonies. 

Brazil. 

Mexico. 

Corea.. 

Congo State. 

Persia... 

Portugal and Colonies. 

Egypt *••••••;. 

Sweden and Norway. 

Morocco... . 

Belgium. 

Annam t. 

Siam . ... 

Roumauia*. .. 

Argentine Republic. 

Colombia. 

Afghanistan. 

Madagascar. 

Abyssinia. 

Peru. 

Switzerland. 

Chili .. 

Bolivia. 

Greece. 

Denmark. 

Venezuela. 

Servia.... 

Bulgaria *. 


Population. 


327 , 645,000 

303 , 241,969 

108 , 787,244 

65 , 894,242 

38 , 218,903 

27 , 675,339 

62 , 622,250 

46 , 855,704 

28 , 313,833 

5 , 416,180 

3 , 129,168 

1 , 994,849 

1 , 600,839 

I , 563,145 
956,170 
575,140 
518,712 
372,580 

341.250 
313,668 
247,603 
214,697 
198,717 
166,392 
161,129 

123.250 
112,118 

98,371 

83,939 

73,623 

67,658 

56,565 

53,787 

37,204 

41 , 827,700 

39 , 607,234 

33 , 042,238 

32 , 000,000 

29 , 699,785 

24 , 873,621 

14 , 000,000 

II , 520,041 
10 , 519,000 

8,000 000 
7 , 653,600 
7 , 249,050 
6 , 806,381 
6 , 774,409 
6 , 5 C 0,000 
6 , 010.043 
6.000,000 
5 , 700,000 
5 , 376,000 
4 200,000 
4 , 000,000 
4 , 000,000 
3 , 500,000 
3 . 000,000 
2 , 970.000 
2 , 933,334 
2 , 665,926 
2 , 300,000 
2 , 187,208 
2,172 205 
2 , 121,988 
2 , 096,043 
2 , 007,919 


Sq. Miles. 


9 , 043,577 

4 , 468,750 

8 , 457,289 

1 , 167,239 

204,177 

963,062 

3 , 602,990 

211,108 

134,467 

29,291 

5.789 
7,531 
5,803 
5,602 
2,965 
5,137 

158 

1,425 

2,479 

1,387 

906 

953 

760 

99 

511 

472 

319 

I , 131 
363 
333 
115 
433 
122 
131 

201,591 

147,669 

778,187 

1 , 731,280 

110,665 

361,953 

3 , 219,000 

751,700 

85,000 

802,000 

636,000 

240,691 

494,000 

298,974 

314,000 

II , 373 
106,300 
280,550 

46^14 

1 , 095,013 

331,420 

279,000 

230.000 

129.000 

405,040 

15,981 

256,860 

472,000 

24,977 

14.789 
566,159 

18,757 

24,700 


Capitals. 


Dondon. 
Peking. 

St. Petersburg. 
Paris. 


Washington. 

Berlin. 

Berlin. 

Munich. 

Dresden. 

Stuttgart. 

Karlsruhe. 


Darmstadt. 

Schwerin. 


Brunswick. 

Oldenburg. 

Weimar. 

Dessau. 

Meiningen. 

Gotha. 


Altenburg. 

Detmold. 

Gera. 

Neu Strelitz. 

Rudolstadt. 

S’nd’rsh’usen. 


Arolsen. 

Greiz. 

Buckeburg. 

Vienna. 

Tokio. 

The Hague. 

Constantinople. 

Rome. 

Madrid. 

Rio de Janeiro. 
Mexico. 

Seul. 


Teheran. 

Lisbon. 

Cairo. 

Stockholm. 

Fez. 

Brussels. 

Hue. 

Bangkok. 
Bucharest. 
Buenos Ayres. 
Bogotd. 

Cabul. 

Antananarivo. 

Lima. 

Berne. 

Santiago. 

La Paz. 

Athens. 

Copenhagen. 

Caracas. 

Belgrade. 

Sofia. 































































































370 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


STATISTICS OF ALL THE 

CHIEF COUNTRIES.— Concluded. 

Countries. 

Population. 

Sq. Miles. 

Capitals. 

Nepaul.’. 

2,000,000 

1,642,182 

1,600,000 

1,427,116 

1,146,000 

1,150,000 

800,000 

700,000 

56,800 

22,958 

81,000 

46,774 

144,000 

14,000 

110,193 

72,112 

22.320 

Khatmandu. 

Cochin-China. 

' Saigon. 

Muscat. 

Oman. 

Guatemala. 

Ecuador. 

New Guatemala. 
Quito. 

Monrovia. 

Eiberia. 

Transvaal. 

Pretoria. 

Uruguay . 

Montevideo. 

Khiva. 

700,000 

651,130 

550,000 

476,000 

431,917 

400,000 

350,000 

245,380 

Khiva. 

Salvador. . 

7,228 

29,830 

San Salvador. 

Hayti. 

Porte au Prince. 

Paraguay. 

145,000 

42.658 

51 i660 
20,596 

Asuncion. 

Honduras. 

Tegucigalpa. 

Managua. 

San Domingo. 
Cetigno. 

San Josd. 
Bloemfontein. 

Nicaragua. 

Dominican Republic. 

Montenenro. 

3,486 

Costa Rica. 

Orange Free State. 

213,785 

133,518 

86.647 

19,985 

41,484 

6,587 

Ha svaii. 

Honolulu. 



* Also enumerated with Turkish Empire, f Also enumerated with Colonies of France. 


ALL THE FAMOUS DIAMONDS. 


Following is an accurate list of the largest diamonds in the world: 


CARATS (UNCUT). 
1680 


410 

793^4 

112 

88)4 


CUT. 

* 


367 

254 


194 
139)4 
138)4 
136 % 

106 j)jj 

86 


82)4 

78 

67)4 

53 


44)4 

40 


NAME. POSSESSOR. 

Braganza.King of Portugal. 

..Rajah of Mattan. (Borneo.) 


Orloff.Czar of Russia. 

Florentine.Empress of Austria. 

— .King of Portugal. 

Pitt. King of Prussia 

Koh-i-noor..Queen of England. 

Shah .Czar of Russia. 

Pigott.Messrs. Rundell and Bridge. 

Nassac.Rord Westminster. 

Blue. . 

Sancy.Czar of Russia. 

Dudley.Earl of Dudley. 

Pacha of Egypt.Khedive of Egypt. 


THE SWEATING SYSTEM. 

As the result of an informal census taken in England in 1884 by 
the Amalgamated Society of Tailors, it was discovered that fifteen thou¬ 
sand tailors, out of a total of twenty thousand were employed under the 
sweating system. A report by Mr. John Burnett, the labor correspondent 
of the Board, to the Board of Trade, on the subject of sweating in the East 
of London, was issued in 1887, and in 1888, on the motion of Lord Dunra- 
ven, a committee of the House of Lords was appointed to inquire into the 
sweating system of the East of London. The scope of the committee was 
on its report the same year, enlarged to take evidence on the sweating 
system in the United Kingdom generally. The committee was reap¬ 
pointed in 1889, and took evidence respecting the sweating system in 
numerous trades, and also in respect of government contracts. A report 
was presented in the House of Lords in 1890, establishing the fact that the 
sweating system prevailed in many trades, and that among its causes were 
the inefficiency of many of the workpeople, early marriages and the ex¬ 
cessive supply of unskilled labor. Recommendations for parliamentary 














































THE WORLD AND ITS WA YS. 


371 


interference were made, especially in respect of the improvement of the 
sanitary condition of many factories, workshops, and domestic workshops 
where work of a sweating character was performed. Additional inspec¬ 
tors with enlarged powers were also declared requisite. Of late attention 
has been called to the same practices in the large cities in our own coun¬ 
try. A congressional committee has been investigating the matter with 
a view to legislation. 

CASTE AMONG THE HINDOOS. 

Caste is a term applied to the division into social classes in India- 
To each of these classes certain pursuits are limited by the Daws of Manu, 
b.c. 960. 1. The Brahmans or sacerdotal class, which “issued from the 

mouth of Brahma.” 

2. The Chuttree or military class, which ‘ ‘sprang from the arm of 
Brahma. ’ ’ 

3. The Bais or mercantile class, which “sprang from the thigh of 
Brahma.” 

4. The Sudras or servile class, which “sprang from the foot of 
Brahma.” 

The Pariahs and Chandalas are nobodies, or worse, for it is pollu¬ 
tion to be touched by such “scum of the earth.” 


HEIGHTS OF NOTED EDIFICES. 


FEET. 

Eiffel Tower, Paris.989 

Washington Monument. 555 

Pyramid, Cheops, Egypt.543 

Cathedral, Cologne. 511 

“ Antwerp.476 

“ Strasburg.474 

Tower, Utrecht.464 

Steeple, St. Stephen’s, Vienna.460 

Pyramid, Khafras, Egypt.456 

St. Martin’s Church, Bavaria.456 

Chimney, Port Dundas, Glasgow.454 

St. Peter’s, Rome .448 

Notre Dame, Amiens.422 

Salisbury Spire, England.406 

Cathedral, Florence.380 

“ Cremona .372 

“ Freiburg.367 

St. Paul’s, London.365 

Cathedral, Seville. .360 

Pyramid, Sakkarah, Egypt,.356 

Cathedral, Milan .355 

Notre Dame, Munich.348 

Iuvalides, Paris.347 

Parliament House, London.340 

Cathedral, Magdeburg.337 

St. Patrick’s, New York..328 

St. Mark’s, Venice. 328 


FEET. 

Cathedral, Bologna.321 

Norwich, England.309 

*• Chichester, England.300 

Lincoln, England.300 

Capitol, Washington.300 

St. James’ Cathedral, Toronto.316 

Trinity Church, New York.283 

Cathedral, Mexico.280 

“ Montreal.280 

Companile Tower, Florence .276 

Column, Delhi.260 

Cathedral, Dantzic.250 

Porcelain Tower, Nankin.248 

Custom House, St. Louis...240 

Canterbury Tower, England.235 

Notre Dame, Paris.232 

Chicago Board of Trade.230 

St. Patrick’s, Dublin. .226 

Cathedral, Glasgow.225 

Bunker Hill Monument. 220 

Notre Dame, Montreal.220 

Cathedral, Lima.220 

“ Rheims.220 

“ Garden City, L.1.219 

St. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia.210 

Washington Monument, Baltimore... .210 
Vendome Column, Paris.153 


LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 

Around many flowers a consistent and well understood symbolism 
Las gathered, but the Orientals have developed this into a perfect vehicle 
for communicating sentimental and amatory expressions of all degrees 
of warmth. In this manner a cluster of flowers can be made to express 
any sentiment, if care is taken in the selection. 

If a flower is offered reversed, its original signification is contradicted 
and the opposite implied. 



























































372 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


A rosebud divested of its thorns, but retaining its leaves, conveys the 
sentiment—“I fear no longer; I hope. ’ ’ Stripped of leaves and thorns, it 
signifies —“There is nothing to hope or fear.” 

A full blown rose, placed over two buds, signifies “Secrecy.” 

“Yes” is implied by touching the flower given to the lips; “No,” by 
pinching off a petal and casting it away. 

“I am” is expressed by a laurel leaf twined around the bouquet; “I 
have,” by an ivy leaf folded together; “I offer you,” by a leaf of Virginia 
creeper. 

COMBINATIONS AND SYMBOLS. 


Mignonette, 
Colored Daisy, 

Lily of the Valley, 
Ferns, 

Yellow Rose, 
Broken Straw. 

Ivy, 

Scarlet Geranium, 
Passion Flower, 
Purple Hyacinth, 
Arbor Vitae. 


Your qualities sur¬ 
pass your charms 
of beauty. 

Your unconscious 
sweetness has 
fascinated me. 
i Your jealousy has 
broken our 
friendship. 

' I trust you will 
find consolation 
through faith in 
• your sorrow: be 
assured of my 
unchanging 
friendship. 


Arbor Vitae.—Unchanging friendship. 
Camelia, White.—Loveliness. 
Candy-Tuft.- Indifference 
Carnation, White.—Disdain. 

China Aster.—Variety. 

Clover, Four-Leaf.—Be mine. 

Clover, White.—Think of me. 

Clover, Red.—Industry. 

Columbine.—Folly. 

Daisy.—Innocence. 

Daisy, Colored—Beauty. 

Dead Leaves.—Sadness. 

Deadly Nightshade.—Falsehood. 
Fern.—Fascination. 

Forget-me-not.—Forget-me-not. 
Fuchsia, Scarlet.—Taste. 

Geranium, Horseshoe.—Stupidity. 
Geranium, Scarlet.—Consolation. 
Geranium, Rose.—Preference. 
Golden-rod.—Be cautious. 

Heliotrope.—Devotion. 

Hyacinth, White.—Loveliness. 
Hyacinth, Purple.—Sorrow. 

Ivy.—Friendship. 

Lily, Day.—Coquetry. 

Lily, White.—Sweetness. 

Lily, Yellow.—Gayety. 


Moss Rosebud, 
Myrtle, 
Columbine, 
Day Lily, 
Broken Straw, 
Witch Hazel, 
Colored Daisy, 

White Pink, 
Canary Grass, 
Laurel, 

Golden Rod, 
Monkshead. 
Sweet Pea, 
Forget-me-not. 


A confession 
of love. 


of 


f Your folly and 
) coquetry have 
j broken 
I the spell of your 
1 beauty. 

( Your talent and 
perseverance 
will win you 
glory. 

f Be cautious; 

J danger is near; 

] I depart soon: ■ 

(. forget me not. 


Lily, Water.—Purity of heart; elegance. 
Lily of the Valley.— Unconscious sweet¬ 
ness. 

Mignonette.—Your qualities surpass your 
charms. 

Monkshead.—Danger is near. 

Myrtle.—Love. 

Oak.—Hospitality. 

Orange Blossoms.—Chastity. 

Pansy.—Thoughts. 

Passion Flower.—Faith. 

Primrose.—Inconstancy. 

Rose.—Love. 

Rose, Damask.—Beaut}'- ever new. 

Rose, Yellow.—Jealousy. 

Rose, White.—I am worthy of you. 
Rosebud, Moss.—Confession of love. 
Smilax.—Constancy. 

Straw.—Agreement. 

Straw, Broken.—Broken agreement. 

Sweat Pea. Depart. 

Tuberose.—Dangerous pleasures. 

Thistle.—Sternness. 

Verbena.—Pray for me. 

White Jasmine.-Amiability. 

Witch Hazel.—A spell. 


END OF THE WORLD. 

This ought to have occurred, according to Nicolas de Cusa, in 1704. 
He demonstrates it thus: The Deluge happened in the thirty-fourth 
jubilee of fifty years from the Creation (a.m. 1700), and therefore the end 
of the world should properly occur on the thirty-fourth jubilee of the 
Christian era, or a.d. 1704. The four grace years are added to com¬ 
pensate for the blunder of chronologists respecting the first year of 
grace. 

The most popular dates of modern times for the end of the world, or 
what is practically the same thing, the Millennium, are the following: 







THE WORLD AND ITS WAVS. 


373 


1757, Swedenborg; 1836, Johann Albrecht Bengel, Erklarte Offenbarung; 
1843, William Miller, of America; 1866, Dr. John Cumming; 1881, Mother 
Shipton. 

It was very generally believed in France, Germany, etc., that the end 
of the world would happen in the thousandth year after Christ; and 
therefore much of the land was left uncultivated, and a general famine 
ensued. Luckily it was not agreed whether the thousand years should 
date from the birth or the death of Christ, or the desolation would have 
been much greater. Many charters begin with these words, As the 
world is now drawing to its dose. Kings and nobles gave up their state: 
Robert of France, son of Hugh Capet, entered the monastery of St. 
Denis; and at Limoges, princes, nobles, and knights proclaimed “God’s 
Truce,” and solemnly bound themselves to abstain from feuds, to keep 
the peace towards each other, and to help the oppressed. 

Another hypothesis is this: As one day with God equals a thousand 
years (Psalm xc. 4) and God labored in creation six days, therefore the 
w r orld is to labor 6,000 years, and then to rest. According to this theory, 
the end of the world ought to occur a.m. 6000, or a.d. 1996 (supposing 
the world to have been created 4,004 years before the birth of Christ). 
This hypothesis, which is widely accepted, is quite safe for another cent¬ 
ury at least. 


GREAT FLOODS AND INUNDATIONS. 

Following is a list of the greatest floods of which modern history 
makes mention: 

684 a.d. Japan; 780 sq. m. of Isle of Shikoku covered by sea. 

968. Persian Gulf; many cities destroyed, and new islands formed by irruption of 

sea. 

1098 or 1100. East of Kent inundated; Goodwin Sands formed. 

1161 or 1165. Sicily; irruption of sea; thousands drowned. 

1173. Holland; Zuider Zee much enlarged. 

1219. Nordland, Norway; lake burst; 36,000 people perished. 

1228. Friesland: invasion of sea; 100,000 people drowned. 

1396. Holland; islands of Texel, Vlieland, and Wieringen separated from main¬ 
land, and Marsdiep, the channel between Texel and North Holland, formed. 

1421 or 1416. Holland; 72 villages inundated, of which 20 permanently; about 100,000 
persons drowned. Biebosch formed east of Dordrecht, and this town separated from 
mainland. 

1521. Holland; 100,000 lives by an inundation. 

1570. Holland; storm drove in the sea, destroying numerous villages and 20,000 
people in Friesland. . , , . _ 

1617. Catalonia, Spain; 15,000 perished in floods. 

1612. China, at Kaifong; 300,000 drowned. ri . ri1Annrt 
1646 Holland and Friesland inundated; loss of life 110,000. 

1745! Peru; Callao destroyed by irruption of sea caused by earthquakes. 

176?! England; irruption of sea on east coast. 

1782 Formosa; west side of island submerged, and Taiwan destroyed. 

1787-88. India, in Northwestern Provinces and Punjab; 15,000 lives lost by floods. 
1791 Cuba; floods from excessive rain; 3,000 drowned. 

1811. Hungary; 24 villages swept away by overflow of Danube. 

1813 Austria Hungary, Poland and Prussian Silesia; floods caused by rains; 4,000 
perished in Poland, 6,000 in Silesia. 

1824. St. Petersburg and Cronstadt, 10,000 lives lost from overflow of Neva. 

1825 Denmark; sea broke through from North Sea to Limfjord, making northern 
Jutland an island; one-third of Friesland submerged by rising of sea and 

1851. Northern China; Yellow River burst its banks, and made a new outlet into 

1856 South of France; floods did damage to extent of $35,600 000. 

1868 Peru- Arica and Iquique nearly destroyed by earthquake waves. 

1874 United States; Mill River valley (Massachusetts) inundated by bursting of a 
dam- 144 drowned. Also floods in western Pennsylvania; 220 drowned. 



374 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


1876. China; floods in northern provinces; in Bengal 200,000 persons perished from 
inundation of a tidal wave. 

1883. Java and Sumatra; west coast of former and east coast of latter submerged 
by volcanic wave, new islands formed in Sunda Straits, whilst part of Kra- 
katoa disappeared. 

1887. China; floods in Ho-nan, caused by the Hoang-ho bursting its southern bank; 
millions of lives lost. 

1889. Johnstown (Pennsylvania), United States; 10,000 lives lost from bursting of a 
reservoir 


HISTORIC FIRES. 

London, September 2-6, 1666.—Eigbty-nine churches, many public 
buildings and 13,200 houses destroyed; 400 streets laid waste; 200,000 
persons homeless. The ruins covered 436 acres. 

New York, December 16, 1835.—600 buildings; loss, $20,000,000. 
September 6, 1839.—$10,000,000 worth of property. 

Pittsburgh, April 10, 1845.-1,000 buildings; loss, $6,000,000. 

Philadelphia, July 9, 1850.—350 buildings; loss, $1,500,000; 25 per¬ 
sons killed; 9 drowned; 120 wounded. 

San Francisco, May 3-5, 1851.—2,500 buildings; loss, $3,500,000; 
many lives lost. June 22, 1851.—500 buildings; loss, $3,000,000. 

Santiago (Spain), December 8, 1863.—A fire in the church of the 
Campania, beginning amid combustible ornaments; 2,000 persons killed, 
mostly women. 

Charleston, S. C., February 17, 1865.—Almost totally destroyed, with 
large quantities of naval and military stores. 

Richmond, Va., April 2 and 3, 1865.—In great part destroyed by fire 
at time of Confederate evacuation. 

Portland, Me., July 4, 1866.—Almost entirely destroyed; loss, $15,- 

000,000. 

Chicago, October 8 and 9, 1871.—3j£ square miles laid waste; 17,450 
buildings destroyed; 200persons killed; 98,500 made homeless. July 14, 
1874.—Another great fire; loss, $4,000,000. 

Great forest fires in Michigan and Wisconsin, October 8-14, 1871— 
2,000 lives lost. 

Boston, November 9-11, 1872.—800 buildings; loss, $73,000,000. 15 
killed. 

Fall River, Mass., September 19, 1874.—Great factory fires; 60 per¬ 
sons killed. 

Brooklyn Theater burned December 5, 1876.—300 lives lost. 

Seattle and Spokane, Wash., 1889.—About $10,000,000each. 


ALL WHO EVER LIVED. 

According to a recent writer, it is impossible to give any close figures 
on the number of persons who have lived on this earth. It is generally 
considered that one person in every thirteen dies each year. At this 
rate the population would be renewed every thirteen years. Assuming 
that the population of the world is 1,000,000,000 and that it has been 
1,000,000,000 at any time during the last 6,000 years, we find that the 
population has been renewed about 461 times; that is, that 462,000,000,000 
have lived on this earth since its creation. This, of course, is vastly in 
excess of the real number, for the world, so far as we can tell, is more 
thickly populated now than ever before. Probably if we were to cut 
those figures in two we should still be above the actual number, with a 
total of 231,000,000,000 persons. 




RACES AND TRIBES OE MEN. 


The human race, 

Of every tongue, of every place, 

Caucasian, Coptic or Malay, 

All that inhabit this great earth, 

Whatever be their rank or worth, 

Are kindred and allied by birth, 

And made of the same clay. 

—Longfellow. 

FEATURES, TYPES AND STUDIES. 

Ethnology treats of races. 

Medicine studies individuals. 

Ethnography is the description of peoples. 

Philology inquires into the language of man. 

The Guanches were the aborigines of the Canary Islands. 

Sociology investigates the principles of human development. 

Anthropology studies man as a whole and in his relations to other 
animals. 

Blumenbach divided man into five races—Mongolian, Malay, Ameri¬ 
can, Ethiopian and Caucasian. 

The most influential of the people of Hungary are the Magyars. In 
language they are closely related to the Finns. 

The Bible tells us that the differences in language of men began with 
the confusion of tongues at the tower of Babel. 

The Calumet is the pipe of peace smoked by the North American 
Indians, both in their councils and on the conclusion of a peace. 

Craniology or the study of the skull has proved a valuable though not 
entirely trustworthy aid in the investigation of racial differences. 

Cyclopsean works are ancient structures of huge, unhewn and un¬ 
cemented blocks of stone. Examples in Sicily, Peru and Ireland. 

The three types of man differ much in temperament. The Ethi¬ 
opian is sensuous, unintellectual, cheerful and even boisterous, but fitful. 

The Lesghians are a Tartar race of the Eastern Caucasus, and form 
the majority of the people of Daghestan. They are Mahommedan in 
religion. 

The Cimbri were the ancient inhabitants of Jutland, of disputed 
nationality. They made serious incursions into Italy, but were utterly 
routed by the Romans, 101 b. c., and were afterwards merged in the 
Saxons. 


375 



376 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION 


Borough-English was an ancient custom by which the youngest son 
inherits property instead of the eldest son. It is mentioned as early 
as 834. 

The Huns were a fierce tribe of Asiatics. They invaded Hungary 
(376) and expelled the Goths, but were thoroughly beaten (451) at Chalons 
"by Aetius. 

In India there are separate classes of society called castes. They are 
the Brahmins, the military class, the commercial class, and the servile 
class or pariahs. 

The study of man’s speech is a study of man himself. His words 
originated in his wants and works and indicate to us his occupation and 
to some extent his character. 

Anthropophagi is another name for cannibals. It is said that the 
Caribs were cannibals before the Spanish conquest, and that the term 
cannibal arose from that fact. 

Cuvier and Talu, scientists, have combined the first three in Blumen- 
bach’s classification and consider the fundamental types of man as three 
—Ethiopic, Mongolic and Caucasic. 

The original inhabitants of Borneo were called Dyaks. They were 
great pirates and practiced head-hunting, but modern civilization has 
nearly demolished those practices. 

The full-blooded South African negro is remarkable for his extraord¬ 
inary length of arm, the Aymara Indian of Peru for the surprising short¬ 
ness of the corresponding member. 

Eand held by the community in Anglo-Saxon times was called Folc- 
land. It could be let for a term to individuals, but reverted to the com¬ 
munity on the expiration of that term. 

Avebury stones are supposed to be the remains of Druidical structures 
at Avebury, in Wiltshire, and are the largest in England. They are up¬ 
right stones of about seventeen feet in height. 

The ancient inhabitants of the Crimea were called Cimmerians. In 
the “Odyssey” the Cimmerii were people living beyond the ocean in 
thickest gloom ; hence “ Cimmerian darkness.” 

Shamanism was the heathen religion of the Turanian races of Siberia. 
Its characteristic is a belief in magic, the shaman, or wizard-priest, being 
closely akin to the medicine-man of the Red Indians. 

Coolies are Indian and Chinese laborers who emigrate to foreign 
lands. The American and European residents in the treaty ports of China 
apply the same term to the native laborers in their employ. 

The system in Anglo-Saxon times by wdiich communities were divided 
into tithings of ten houses, the holders of which were responsible for 
faults or crimes committed by any of them, was called “ fraud pledge.” 

The Wends, a branch of the western Slavs, were in the sixth century a 
powerful race, extending from the Elbe to the Vistula, but they are now 
confined to the district known as Eusatia, partly in Prussia and partly in 
Saxony. 

The Goorkhas are a tribe of mountaineers in Nepaul, India. Though 
small in stature, they are possessed of indomitable courage and bravery, 
having signally distinguished themselves in the campaign undertaken by 
the British in India. 


RACES AND TRIBES OF MEN. 


377 


The period during which stone implements, unpolished, were used 
by early man is called the Palaeolithic Age. Contemporaneous with the 
Palaeolithic Age were many mammals now extinct, as the cave bear, the 
woolly rhinoceros, etc. 

The Celts were an ancient Aryan race formerly inhabiting Gaul. The 
name has been applied to the primitive races of Ireland, Scotland and 
Wales, but neither Greeks nor Romans regarded the British Isles as be¬ 
longing to the Celtic world. 

The Belgae were German and Celtic tribes inhabiting the tract of 
country extending from the Atlantic to the Rhine, and from the Marne to 
the Seine. They were very valiant, and some of them were found in Kent 
and Sussex by Caesar on his invasion of Britain. 

The countries relatively richest in horses and horned stock are 
Argentine and Uruguay; Austria has the most sheep; Servia the greatest 
relative number of pigs to population. The poorest in horses is Italy; 
in cattle, Portugal; in sheep, Belgium; in hogs, Greece. 

The people known as lake-dwellers gave rise to the term “Uacustrian 
Period,” an extremely remote age when human habitations, for the sake 
of security, were built in the midst of lakes. Remains of such habitations 
exist in certain lakes of Switzerland, Scotland, Ireland, etc. 

Brochs are prehistoric structures in Scotland resembling low circular 
roofless towers, with walls of great thickness of unhewn stones and. 
enclosed by a narrow passage, chiefly in Orkney, Shetland, etc. The 
brochs of Mousa is a typical and the best preserved example. 

The Mahrattas are a native Indian race which founded an empire in 
Central and Western India, 1674. After 1795, Scindia, Holkar and Berar 
became independent; the confederacy of Mahratta states came to an end 
in 1818, and all the chiefs became dependants of the British Crown. 

In the Spanish province of Gerona a fairly pure type of the dwarf 
race of Morocco and the Atlas has been traced. These people average 
about 3 Yz feet in height, and are otherwise characterized by a yellow skin, 
broad, square faces, Mongolian eyes and red hair of a woolly texture. 

A people now frequently heard of are the Bechuanas, a powerful and 
warlike race of the Kaffir stock, inhabiting a large tract of South Africa, 
north of Cape Colony. They are engaged in agriculture and the rearing 
of cattle. The greater part of the territory is under British influence. 

By the law of Gavelkind the land of the father was, at his decease, 
divided among the sons; if there were no sons, it was divided among the 
daughters. After the Norman Conquest Gavelkind gave place to the 
feudal law of primogeniture, and was only observed in Kent and Wales. 

A Scotch or Gaelic tribe formed of members of one family and their 
descendants is called a clan. It is supposed to have arisen in Scotland 
about 1008. The chiefs exercised jurisdiction as the fathers of the clans, 
but their legal and heritable jurisdiction was abolished in 1747, after the 
rebellion. 

The Romans used frequently to be at war with the Volsci, an ancient 
people of Uatium. Their chief city was Coriole, from which Caius Mar- 
tius, who defeated them, obtained his name of Coriolanus (about 490 b. c.). 
They were again utterly defeated (389 B. c.) by M. Furius Camillus, the 
conqueror of Veii, and finally ( c . 338 B. c.) were incorporated with the Ro¬ 
man people. 


378 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Scythians were a nomad race of Asia known to the ancient writers. 
The name bore two significations, meaning (1) the Scythians proper or 
Scolots, (2) all the nomad tribes (Sacse, Sarmatians, Massagetse, Scolots) 
who dwelt in the steppes from what is now Hungary to the mountains of 
Turkestan. 

The name Moors was first applied to the inhabitants of Mauritania ; 
afterwards to the inhabitants of the whole of Africa north of the Sahara 
and west of Tripoli. Now it is given to the people of Morocco, but it is 
sometimes loosely used as synonymous with Arab, Saracen, or even Ma- 
hommedan. 

The Basques are descendants of the ancient Iberi, who occupied Spain 
before the Celts. They occupy the provinces of Biscay, Guipuzcoa, and 
Alava in Spain, and the departments of the Upper and Lower Pyrenees, 
Ariege, and Upper Garonne, and retain their ancient language, manners, 
and customs. 

The Fire Ordeal was an ancient form of trial for persons of high rank 
in England and Germany, in which the accused had to walk barefoot over 
nine red hot ploughshares, or over red-hot cinders, or to carry a red-hot 
iron in his hand for a certain distance. If he escaped unhurt h e was con¬ 
sidered innocent. 

Shire is the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of the Norman county. The 
Earl was originally the head of the shire, but his duties were gradually 
carried out by the Shire-reeve, as the king’s representative in the shire, 
who levied the various dues, fines, etc., in the king’s name, and acted as 
his legal representative. 

In the fourth century b. c. the Goths were found inhabiting the coasts 
of the Baltic, and later the shores of the Black Sea, and north of the 
Lower Danube. Defeated and killed the Roman emperor, Decius (251). 
Claudius (269) defeated the Goths with great slaughter. Dacia ceded to 
the Goths (272) by Aurelian. 

According to the Bible the Midianites were the descendants of 
Midian, son of Abraham by Keturah, inhabiting the country between the 
Red Sea and the plains of Moab. They were powerful at one time, but, 
with their allies the Amalekites, were completely routed by Gideon, and 
are seldom heard of afterwards. 

The Chaldeans or Akkadians are a non-Semitic race who came orig¬ 
inally from the mountain country of Elam, and were formerly the domi¬ 
nant people of Babylonia. One of the four great cities of Shinar was 
Accad. The Babylonians were indebted to the Sumero-Akkadians for 
their cuneiform writing, religion, and mythology. 

The ancient sea-rovers of Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway and 
Sweden), or Northmen, called themselves Vikings (sea-kings). Their 
ravages extended from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries, and they 
formed permanent settlements in England, Ireland, Northern France, and 
Southern Italy. In France the name was contracted into Normans. 

Closely related to the Sabines were the Samnites, who were long for¬ 
midable rivals of the Romans, and were only subdued after three san¬ 
guinary wars, waged with little interruption from 343 B.c. to 290 b.c. The 
Samnites took a prominent part in the social war (90 B. c.), and espoused 
the cause of Marius against Sulla, by whom they were almost extirpated 
(82 B. c.). 


RACES AND TRIBES OF MEN. 


379 


Fire worship was established by Zoroaster amongst the Persians, who 
worshipped the sun, and held that the sacred fires of their temples and 
the sun were the especial places of the divine habitation. Fire worship 
is also practised by the Parsees. Among the early Hindus the sun was 
worshipped under the simulacrum of the god Agni and represented in 
the Vedas as the god of Fire Worship. 

In the third century the Saxons, a Teutonic race, made numerous 
settlements on the coasts of Normandy and Brittany, thence called the 
“Saxon Shore.” In the fifth century they laid the foundations of the 
Saxon kingdoms in England. Those who remained in Germany, some¬ 
times called old Saxons, spread south and east over Saxony. They were 
finally subdued by Charlemagne in 803. 

Cromlech is a modern term formerly applied by archaeologists to a 
class of megalithic monuments, consisting of one flat stone supported on 
two or more upright stones, and forming a kind of open chamber with a 
roof. It is now generally recognized, however, that these are merely the 
denuded or uncovered chambers of cairns or barrows, for which another 
modem term, “dolmen,” is now generally substituted. 

The Varangians were the Norse vikings, who in the ninth century laid 
the foundations of the Russian Empire. Many of them entered the serv¬ 
ice of the Byzantine emperors, and in the days of the Comneni the Var¬ 
angians regularly formed the imperial bodyguard at Constantinople. 
The Varangians at Constantinople were largely recruited by Anglo-Saxons 
and Danes from England after the Norman Conquest. 

The Hottentots are an African native race occupying the country 
north from the Cape Colony to Mossamedes, stretching westward to the 
Atlantic, and bounded on the East by the Kalahari desert. Formerly a 
numerous nation, the Hottentots have been greatly diminished by the 
oppression of the Boers, and the race is now nearly extinct. The Hot¬ 
tentots include the Griquas, Bushmen, Korannas, Namaquas, and 
Damaras. 

The Pygmie, a fabled race of dwarfs, mentioned by Homer (II. iii. 3 N 
and Pliny. They were said to have inhabited the shores of the Nile. A 
race of pygmies, the Wambutti, was discovered by Mr. H. M. Stanley 
during his recent expedition in “ Darkest Africa.” He tells us how the 
“dwarfs with poisoned arrows, securely hidden behind buttress or in 
some dark recess,” disputed his march with relentless vigilance and vin¬ 
dictiveness. 

The Sabines were an important tribe of ancient Italy, allied to the 
Latins, Samnites, etc. Famous in Roman history as the people whose 
daughters were treacherously seized by the Romans at the Consualia, or 
games in honor of the God Consus. A treaty of peace was concluded 
with the Sabines (750 b. c.). After frequent wars, the Sabines were finally 
defeated (449 b. c.) by M. Horatius, and were incorporated with Rome in 
the third century b. c. 

The Hivites were a Canaanitish people specially associated with the 
Amorites, dwelling in the time of Joshua (Josh, ix.) near the center of 
Palestine and near Mount Hermon and Mount Lebanon, the latter being 
regarded as the country of the Amorites in the Egyptian texts and Tel-el- 
Amarna tablets. The Hivites are first mentioned in Scripture in Gen. x, 
17; they were subjected to tribute by Solomon, after whose reign their 
name no longer appears. 


380 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORM A TION. 


Animism is a term which explains all natural phenomena by the 
medium of spiritual agency. The Greek, Roman, and other ancient 
nations of antiquity, worshipped natural phenomena in a concrete form as 
divinities. Compare Ra, the Egyptian sun-god, Sanskrit Dyu , Greek 
Zeus , the sky, etc. The term animism was first applied by Dr. E. B. 
Tylor, to express the general theory of spiritual beings. 

Albinos, called also Leucoethiopes, or white negroes, and by the 
Dutch and Germans Kakerlaken , were at one time considered a distinct 
race, but closer observation has shown that the same phenomenon occurs 
in individuals of all races, and that the peculiar white appearance arises 
from an irregularity of the skin. The iris of the eye is red in the Albino. 
Albinoism occurs also in other mammalia, birds and insects. 

The Teutones were a German tribe, mentioned by Roman writers as in¬ 
habiting the northwest part of Germany north of the Elbe. In conjunc¬ 
tion with the Cimbri, they invaded Gaul (103 b. c.), destroying three 
Roman armies, and then proceeded to invade Italy; but the Teutones 
were defeated and almost annihilated by Marius at Aquae Sextiae (102 B. 
C.), and the Cimbri at Campus Raudius, near Verullae (101 B. c.). 

The Druids were ancient priests and legislators of the Britons, Ger¬ 
mans and Gauls. They reverenced the oak and the mistletoe growing 
upon it. They believed in the immortality and transmigration of the soul, 
and were acquainted with astronomy, philosophy, and physic. They ex¬ 
ercised great power over the people, and resisted the landing of Caesar in 
Britain. They were exterminated by Suetonius Paulinus, a. d. 61. 

In the vicinity of Palenque, a Mexican village, are the grandest and 
most extensive ruins in the American continent, dating from before the 
Spanish conquest. The chief structure is a huge pile called the palace, 
two hundred and twenty eight feet long, one hundred and eighty feet 
wide, and twenty-five feet high, with numerous sculptures and hiero¬ 
glyphics, raised on a grand basement, square on the plan, and rising by 
huge steps to the summit. 

The Aztecs were the early inhabitants of Mexico, who became highly 
civilized and adopted a monarchical form of government in 1352. Their 
most celebrated king was Montezuma-Illumicamina, who erected several 
magnificent buildings, the remains of which are still to be seen. They 
believed in a Supreme Being, whom they never represented by sculpture 
or painting, as they believed him to be invisible. The Aztecs were con¬ 
quered by the Spaniards under Cortez, 1521. 

The Ethiopic type of man is a worshipper of nature and believes in 
fetichism and witchcraft. The Mongolic type believes in dreams and 
visions and is a spirit worshipper, while the Caucasic type has creeds 
based on revelation and a priesthood with the idea of mediation promi¬ 
nent. The Mongolian is Sluggish, somewhat morose and taciturn—with 
little of the initiative but much endurance. The Caucasian has a high 
imagination, is active and enterprising, speculative yet practical. 

The word Boers (Dutch, “agriculturists,” “farmers”) is the name ap¬ 
plied to the Dutch Colonists of South Africa who are engaged in agricult¬ 
ure and the care of cattle. Their first settlement was at the Cape of Good 
Hope about the sixteenth century. The Boers are the republican land¬ 
holders of South Africa; by no means scrupulous and humane in their 
dealings with the natives, but remarkable for courage, love of freedom, 
sobriety and industry. They are good horsemen and splendid marksmen. 


RACES AND TRIBES OF MEN 


381 


The Bedouins are that class of Arabs who lead a nomadic life. Liv¬ 
ing in the desert of Arabia they have evolved characteristics as robbers 
and herdsmen, intimately connected with their mode of life. Keen of 
physical sense, with active imagination, yet destitute of solid knowledge, 
the Bedouin unites independence and love of liberty, with a violent pas¬ 
sion, an infamous love of plunder and an entire disregard of the rights of 
propertv. They are professedly Mahommedan. Bigamy is rare, polyg¬ 
amy scarcely known. 

The ancient inhabitants of Samaria were a mixed people, composed 
of the remnant of Ephraim and Manasseh, and of Assyrian colonists in¬ 
troduced after the captivity of the Ten Tribes (721 b.c.). In the New 
Testament “The Samaritans” is used as the name of a religious com¬ 
munity opposed to the Jews. They accepted only the Pentateuch, and 
maintained that the sanctuary of the divine choice was not Mount Zion, 
but Mount Gerizim (Shechem), where they had a temple destroyed by 
John Hyrcanus (128 b.c.). A few of the race and religion still exist. 

The Albic word “cairn’’ or “earn,” signifying a protuberance, a heap, 
is applied among archaeologists to the artificial heaps of unhewn stones 
found in England, Wales, Scotland and Brittany. Both burnt and un¬ 
burnt remains have been found in these cairns, indicating that they w 7 ere 
used as family sepulchres. They vary in shape and size. One of the 
largest is the great chambered cairn of New Grange, near Droghede,' with 
a diameter of three hundred and fifteen feet and a height of twenty feet. 
Its main chamber is about thirteen feet in diameter with side recesses of 
smaller size. The site of the cairn is surrounded by a circle of standing 
stones. 

The Visigoths, or Western Goths, were the descendants of that branch 
of the Gothic race established by Aurelian in Dacia (270). The descend¬ 
ants of the other branch of the race, which remained in Southern Russia, 
were called Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths). On the death of Theodosius, the 
Visigoths, under Alaric, overran Greece (396) and Italy (400). After Al- 
aric’s death (410) they established a kingdom at Toulouse (418) which 
eventually comprised the whole of Gaul south of the Loire and west of the 
Rhone, as well as Provence and the greater part of Spain. With the de¬ 
feat ^and death) of Alaric II. by Clovis, on the field of Vougle (or Vouille 
or Voclad) near Poitiers (507;, the kingdom of Toulouse came to an end, 
and the Visigoths abandoned to the conqueror all their territories north 
of the Pyrenees, with the exception of a small tract of country in Gaul, 
including the cities of Carcassone, Narbonne, and Nimes. 

The Hittites were one of the most important tribes in the south of 
Canaan. They are mentioned in Gen. x. as the descendants of Heth, a 
son of Canaan. In the age of Abraham the Hittites inhabited Hebron 
and its neighborhood (Gen. xxiii.). The primitive seat of the Hittites 
was probably the Taurus mountains of Asia Minor, from whence, as indi¬ 
cated by the cuneiform records of Tel-el-Amarna, in the latter part of the 
eighteenth Egyptian dynasty, they invaded Syria, and later, in the reign 
of Rameses II., were settled at Kadesh, ultimately spreading to the south 
of Palestine. In race the Hittites were probably Turanian, and in their 
language allied to the Alarodian family. The peculiar hieroglvphic 
writings found on Hittite monuments in Syria, Asia Minor, etc., are be¬ 
ginning to be deciphered. In common with the Hyksos the deity of the 
Hittites was Seti, the Egyptian Typhon, and the local goddess of Kadesh, 
Anata, the Canaanitish goddess of war. 


382 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


According to Greek tradition the Amazons were communities of wo¬ 
men, who dwelt in Asia and Scythia, the most famous inhabiting Pontus. 
They are said to have built Ephesus. Of their queens, one, Hypolyta, 
was conquered by Hercules; another, Penthesilea, was killed by Achilles, 
when aiding the Trojans; a third, Thalestris, visited Alexander the Great. 
The name Amazon is derived from the Greek amazos , i.e., without a 
breast, from the removal of the right bosom to facilitate the use of the 
javelin and bow. The bodyguard of the King of Dahomey consists of 
women called Amazons. 

The Walloons are the inhabitants of the south-eastern division of 
Belgium, their country comprising the provinces of Hainault, Namur, 
Liege, and Luxemburg, with part of Brabant. The Walloons are Roman¬ 
ized Gauls, lineal representatives of the ancient Belgae, distinguished 
from their Flemish (Teutonic) neighbors by their Romance language, their 
stronger physique, and their darker complexion. The Walloon language, 
however, a strongly marked dialect of Northern France (the Langued’Oil), 
is now merely a provincial patois , French being the written standard and 
official language of the whole kingdom. 

The Vandals were one of the Teutonic peoples who overthrew the 
Roman Empire. They were first heard of as occupying Brandenburg and 
Pomerania. In 406 they crossed the Rhine and entered Gaul, and in 409 
they crossed the Pyrenees and entered Spain, where they waged twenty 
years of bloody warfare with the imperial armies and with their fellow- 
barbarians, the Goths and Suevi. Under Genseric they invaded (429) and 
conquered Roman Africa, Carthage being taken in 439. Genseric formed 
a powerful fleet and took and plundered Rome (455). Ultimately (533-6) 
the Vandal kingdom in Africa was overthrown by Belisarius, the general 
of Justinian. 

The Montenegrins belong to the Servian branch of the Slavs, who 
inhabit Montenegro, an independent principality on the eastern side of 
the Adriatic, between Dalmatia, Herzegovina, Bosnia, and Albania. In 
the fourteenth century Montenegro was a principality subject to the Serv¬ 
ian empire, but when the Servian power was broken by the Turks at the 
battle of Kossovo (1389), it became the asylum of all who disdained to sub¬ 
mit to the Turkish yoke; and since then the main business of the Monte¬ 
negrins has been to fight the Turks. They joined Servia (1876) and Russia 
(1877-78) against the hereditary foe, with the result that they acquired an 
accession of territory in 1878 (Antivari, etc.), and again in 1880 (Dulcigno). 
There was temporary fighting between the Turks and the Montenegrins 
at Cetinje (July 3-4, 1886). 

The wearing of beards dates from an early period, the Assyrians being 
thus depicted in their sculptures. The Egyptians were shaven, or wore 
their beards cut square. By the Levitical law the Jews were forbidden to 
shave their beards. The Persians, the Greeks (until the time of Alexan¬ 
der the Great), and the Romans , were bearded; among the last named 
shaving was introduced about 296 b. c. In England beards were not in 
fashion from the Conquest to the thirteenth century, and at the time of 
Charles II. the beards were out of use. In 1851 the custom of wearing the 
beard was revived. Peter the Great caused all the Russians to shave. In 
France modern shaving is said to have come into force during the reigns 
of Louis XIII. and XIV. In the East the beard is regarded as a mark of 
dignity, and an insult offered to the beard is highly resented. 


.RACES AND TRIBES OF MEN. 


383 


Of dwarf races of men, the most notable are the Bushmen, four feet 
seven inches high; the Akkas in Central Africa, about four feet ten inches 
high, with whom Emin’s men identified the hordes of forest dwarfs 
(“a venomous, cowardly, and thievish race, and very expert with their 
arrows”) by whom Stanley’s march in 1888 was so harrassed; the Obongos, 
on the Gaboon, and the still smaller Batwas, four feet three inches; a 
tribe called M’Kabba, near hake Ngami, reported as only four feet one 
inch; also the Andaman Islanders (under five feet), the Aetasin the Phil¬ 
ippines, the Malayan Samangs, the Javan Kalangs. The Lapps, Ainos, 
Fuegians, and Veddahs are somewhat taller. 

The Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings, were a race of Asiatic origin, possi¬ 
bly of Mongoloid type, whose nationality is a matter of dispute. Accom¬ 
panied by a horde of Semites they invaded and occupied the northern part 
of Egypt about sixteen hundred years before Christ, overthrowing the Mid¬ 
dle Empire, and holding possession of the country for six hundred and 
sixty-nine years. Ahmes, the founder of the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty, 
conquered the Hyksos, the more important part of whom were driven from 
Egypt. It was held, as stated by Eusebius—a view supported by many 
of the best Egyptologists—that Joseph ruled Egypt during the sway of the 
Hyksos dynasty. Important discoveries of the Hyksos dynasty have re¬ 
cently been made by M. Naville, atBubastis, among these being mutilated 
twin statues of the Hykso King Apepi, probably contemporaneous with 
Joseph. _ 

ABOUT THE SARACENS. 

The term Saracens is of doubtful origin. At first it was applied by 
the Greeks and Romans to the nomad Arabs, who harassed the frontier 
of the empire from Egypt to the Euphrates; but afterwards, during the 
middle ages, to the Moslems in general, the Saracens having been the 
earliest and most enthusiastic converts of Islam. In the seventh century 
the Saracens conquered Arabia, North Africa, and part of Asia; and in the 
eighth century they conquered Spain (711), but their progress in France 
was stopped by their defeat by Charles Martel, at Tours (732). The great 
caliphate of Bagdad, founded in 764, fell before the assaults of the Tartars 
in 1277; the great caliphate of Cordova, founded in 756, endured till 1031, 
when it was broken up into smaller governments, the last of which, the 
kingdom of Granada, fell before Ferdinand of Spain in 1492. Like the 
Normans, the Saracens w ere a people of great enterprise and rare adapta¬ 
bility, and quickly surpassed their teachers in all the arts which embellish 
life. '___ 

OUR NATION’S PREDECESSORS. 

Mound Builders is the name given to a vanished race by whose labor 
the remarkable earth mounds found in the United States were raised. 
These mounds exist in extraordinary numbers over all the country be¬ 
tween the Alleghany and Rocky Mountains, but chiefly in Ohio, Illinois, 
Indiana, and Missouri; they are abundant in all the Gulf States, and even 
farther south, and they extend at least as far north as the great lakes. 
Their usual height is from six to thirty feet, with a diameter of forty to 
one hundred feet. The majority are simply conical burial mounds, mostly 
rising from fifteen to twenty-five feet, though one in West Virginia is sev¬ 
enty feet high and over three hundred feet in diameter at the base. But 
very many others of these mounds are defensive, and others again have a 




384 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


religious origin. The fortifications, usually earthworks raised on heights 
near some water course, embrace walls, trenches, watch- towers, and are 
too skill fully constructed to have been temporary defences; many archaeol¬ 
ogists believe that there was a connected line of defensive works from 
New York to Ohio. In the Mississippi Valley, where the largest mounds 
are, these forts disappear; and it is supposed that the principal enemies of 
the Mound Builders had their home in the east—perhaps in the Allegha- 
nies. Some of the Ohio fortresses enclose over one hundred acres, the 
walls of earth, winding in and out, in each case being several miles long. 


THE GREAT HUMAN FAMILY. 

The three primary divisions of man, as indicated by Latham, are *4ie 
Indo-European, the Mongolian and the African. 

I. The Indo-European or Caucasic race originally extended from India across 
Europe, and increasing ever in civilization and intellectual power from age to age, 
has become the dominant one in the world, extending its influence to every part of 
the earth, supplanting many inferior races, and repeopling wide areas, as in America 
and Australia. 

The Caucasic race comprises two principal branches—the Aryan and the. Semitic. 
A third branch, according to M. de Quatrefages, includes the Caucasians proper, 
Euscarians (Basques), and others. 

Most of the inhabitants of Europe belong to the Aryan Family; they are arranged 
in the following groups : 

1. The Keltic, in the N. W., comprising the Welsh, Gaels, Erse, Manx, and 
Armoricaus. 

2. The Italic, chiefly in the S. W. and S., comprising the Italian and other Ro¬ 
mance nations—French, Spanish, Portuguese, Roumanesch, and Roumanians. 

3. The Thraco-Hellenic, in the S. E., Greeks and Albanians. 

4. The Teutonic, in the N. N. W. and center, comprising the Germans, Scandi¬ 
navians, Danes, Icelanders, Dutch, Flemings, English. 

5. The Lithuanian, S. E. of the Baltic. 

6 . The Slavonic, in the E., comprising the Russians, Poles, Tsekhs, Serbs, Croats, 
Bulgarians, etc. 

The Indo-European or Caucasic race in Asia comprises the Hindus, Baluchis, 
Afghans, Iranians (Persia), Galchas (Zarafshan), and the Semitic tribes of Armenia, 
Syria, Arabia, etc. 

II. The Mongolian is divisible into three branches, according to geographical 
position, which again form numerous smaller families. 

1. The Asiatic, comprising the Mongolians of the Chinese Empire, India, and 
Indo-China; the Kalmucks, adjoining the Turks, who extend from Southern Europe 
far into Central Asia; the Magyars of Hungary; the Yakuts and Samoeids (or Samo- 
yedes) of Siberia; with the Lapps, Finns, and various tribes of East Europe. 

2. The Oceanic Mongolians are composed of two classes. I. The black-skinned 
found in New Guinea, Australia, Tasmania, and the islands between New Zealand 
and New Caledonia. II. The yellow, olive or brown race, occupying New Zealand, 
the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Moluccas, Philippines, Madagascar, etc. 

3. The American Mongolians comprise a large number of tribes, the chief of 
which in North America are—the Athabaskans, Algonkins, Sioux, Paducas, and 
Mexicans. In South America, the Quichuas, Chilians and Patagonians extend along 
the west coast. The Caribs, Mavpures, Brazilians, Moxos, andChiquitos occupy the 
north, east and center of the continent. The Eskimos form a connecting link be¬ 
tween the Asiatic and American branches of this family. 

III. The African, forming the third great division of the human race, is exhib¬ 
ited in its purest form by the natives of Western Africa. The Negroes occupy the 
whole central portion of the country from Cape Verde on the west to Khartoom on 
the east, and south to the Congo. South of the Negroes are the Bantus (including the 
Kafirs), inhabiting the greater part of Africa between the 4 th parallel of N. lat. and 
the Cape. In the S. W. are the Hottentots. Certain dwarfish tribes are found in dif¬ 
ferent parts of the continent, as the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert, the Obongo ot 
the Ogowe basin, and others. The Fulas and Nubas occupv parts of the Soudan ; the 
former, in the N. W., extend from the Senegal and Niger towards Lake Tchad ; the 
latter are found iu Nubia, Kordofan, Darfur, etc. The Gallas, Copts, Somali, of the 
Sahara, Egypt, and East Africa; the Abyssinians; and the Berbers, Kabyles, Tuareks 
and other tribes of North Africa, belong to the Hamitic race, which is closely allied 
to the Semitic race. The latter is represented by the Arabs of the N. coast, arid of the 
Arabian Peninsula, and by the Tigres and other tribes of Abvssinia. 



RACES AND TRIBES OF MEN 


385 


THE GYPSY TRIBES. 

The word Gypsy is a corruption of Egyptian, but is best understood 
as applied to a mysterious vagabond race, scattered over the whole of 
Europe and parts of Asia, Africa, and America. Whence they originally 
came is not definitely known, but India seems to have been the cradle of 
the tribe. For centuries past they have drifted about over Europe in 
small bands, having no permanent homes; living by begging, fortune 
telling, and various tricks. The first notice of them which occurs in Eu¬ 
ropean literature is embodied in a free paraphrase, in German, of the 
Book of Genesis, written by an Austrian monk about 1122. On August 
17, 1427, a band of them, coming from Bohemia, made their appearance 
before Paris, which, however, they were not allowed to enter, but were 
lodged at Ea Chapelle Saint Denis. Other hordes succeeded these in the 
following years, spreading in rapid succession over all parts of Germany, 
over Spain, England, Russia, Scandinavia, and, indeed, over the remotest 
parts of Europe. The account which they most frequently gave of them¬ 
selves was, that they originally came from “Tittle Egypt,” that the King 
of Hungary had compelled about 4,000 of them to be baptized, had slain 
the remainder, and had condemned the baptized to seven years’ wander¬ 
ing. In France, Germany, Scotland, and other countries the most strin¬ 
gent laws were formerly enforced against them and they were slain by 
thousands. The jargon spoken by the Gypsies is styled Romany and 
contains many Sanscrit words and corrupted Hebraisms. 


THE SCATTERED NATION. 

The Hebrew race is distributed over the Eastern continent as follows: 
In Europe there are 5,400,000; in France, 63,000; Germany, 562.000, 
of which Alsace-Loraine contains 39,000; Austro-Hungary, 1,544,000; 
Italy, 40,000; Netherlands, 82,000; Roumania, 265,000; Russia, 2,552,000; 
Turkey, 105,000, and in other countries 35,000, Belgium containing the 
smallest number, only 3,000. 

In Asia there are 319,000; Asiatic Turkey, 47,000, in Palestine there 
being 25,000; Asiatic Russia, 47,000; Persia, 18,000; Middle Asia, 14,000; 
India, 19,000, and China, 1,000. 

Africa contains 350,000; Egypt, 8,000; Tunis, 55,000; Algiers, 35,000; 
Morocco, 60,000; Tripoli, 6,000, and Abyssinia, 200,000. 

The entire number of Hebrews in the world is nearly 6,300,000. 


UNITY OF THE RACE. 

Geology has revealed to us the existence in prehistoric times of ani¬ 
mals allied to those which now exist, but with great variation in organi¬ 
zation, and differing very considerably in size. Among the fossils are 
the skeletons of creatures far exceeding in size any now living, and, on the 
other hand, bones of a small animal scarcely larger than a dog of one of 
the breeds of medium size, which geologists assert was the progenitor of 
the modern horse. But so far as science has been able to discover the 
human being has ever been of the same average dimensions. Indi¬ 
viduals of all races vary in height; the average bulk of the inhabitants of 
tropical climates is generally less than that of the people who dwell in 
the regions of temperate climate; and stunted men and women occupy 
the colder parts of the earth; but so it has been apparently in all ages. 
The skeletons found in old barrows, representatives of the men of the 
U. I—25 




386 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


prehistoric period, the bones found imbedded in strata of great antiquity, 
are of about the same dimensions as those of the men of to-day. No 
necessity of existence has lengthened the arms or neck, changed toes 
into thumbs, or added a finger to the hand. The general type of all men 
in all regions, from the equator to the poles, is that they are two-handed, 
walk erect, have the power of speech more or less developed, and that 
between even those of lowest organization and the most intelligent of 
quadrupeds there is a very marked distinction. Human idiots there are, 
as there are human monstrosities of form; but they are exceptions which 
prove the permanence of the typical characteristics. While, however, 
the general agreement in organization appears to be ineradicable, 
there are certain external differences, in complexion, hair, facial 
contour, and other minor matters, which seem to indicate separate groups 
or families of the human race, and have suggested the theories advo¬ 
cated by some ethnologists of distinct centres of creation, in opposition 
to the more generally accepted belief in the derivation of all human 
beings from the same stock. In discussing this question, we may fairly 
take into consideration that, in the respect of the means by which the 
human race might have spread over the earth, we are not encountered by 
the difficulties which present themselves when we are examining the 
history of the movements of other members of animated nature. The 
will to travel, inspired by many motives, is added to the power to travel, 
given by natural adaptability to endure atmospheric and other varia¬ 
tions, and by the exercise of the reasoning power; and in cases of acci¬ 
dental drifting to unknown islands or continental coasts, there is a 
power to make the best of adverse conditions. It is quite possible that 
the intelligent and active descendants of a small family located in south¬ 
western Asia should in the course of thousands of years have made their 
way east and west, north and south, making at intervals settlements 
which became centres of new dispersions. From Asia to Western Europe 
was a comparatively easy journey, allowing many centuries for its accom¬ 
plishment. Africa could be peopled not only by passing across the neck 
of land which divides it from Asia, but by settlements on the coast made 
by adventurous mariners, or by parties drifted to the shores. The straits 
w r hich separate north-eastern Asia from northwestern America could be 
crossed by canoes, visiting the chain of islands on their way. We know 
that adventurous Northmen of Europe reached the North American 
coast from Greenland centuries before Columbus crossed the Atlantic; 
and the Chinese have traditions of discoveries and settlements on the 
western coast of North America, nearly as far south as California. Eong 
residence in hot climates affects the color of the skin, and it becomes 
hereditary. The necessity of constant physical exertion to maintain ex¬ 
istence, and the absence of intellectual training, develop the muscles and 
bony framework, and induce a dwindling of the brain. The facial angle 
becomes more acute, the jaw-bone more prominent and the figure more 
lithe and active. In very hot climates less animal food can be eaten, 
even by recent settlers, and in the course of ages is dispensed with alto¬ 
gether—sometimes from religious considerations, as among the natives 
of the Indian peninsula and other parts of Asia—and the resulting differ¬ 
ence of physique is very noticeable. Other causes, such as the effects of 
the chemical constituents of the atmosphere and of water, it may be 
the effects of terrestrial magnetism, are in continual operation, and the 
results, aided by hereditary transmission, produce the differences which 
mark what are popularly called the races of mankind. 


HEALTH, HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


The surest road to health, say what they will, 

Is never to suppose we shall be ill:— 

Most of those evils we poor mortals know 
From doctors and imagination flow. 

—Churchill. 

MEDLEY OF FACTS AND COUNSELS. 

Don’t sleep in a draught. 

Don’t go to bed with cold feet. 

Don’t stand over hot-air registers. 

A bag of hot sand relieves neuralgia. 

Warm borax water removes dandruff. 

Salt should be eaten with nuts to aid digestion. 

Don’t eat what you do not need, just to save it. 

Don’t sit in a damp or chilly room without a fire. 

Don’t try to get cool too quickly after exercising. 

Homoeopathy began in the United States in 1825. 

Don’t sleep in a room without ventilation of some kind. 

Medicine was introduced into Rome from Greece 200 b.c. 
Hippocrates, 450 b.c., is styled the “Father of Medicine.” 

It rests you, in sewing, to change your position frequently. 

There was a foundling hospital at Milan, Italy, as early as 787. 
Don’t try to get along without flannel underclothing in winter. 
Oxygen, the life element, was discovered by Dr. Priestly in 1774. 

If an artery is severed, tie a small cord or handkerchief above it. 
Don’t stuff a cold lest you should be next obliged to starve a fever. 
A little soda water will relieve sick headache caused by indigestion. 
Well-ventilated bedrooms prevent morning headaches and lassitude. 
Sprains and bruises call for an application of the tincture of arnica. 
Tickling in the throat is best relieved by a gargling of salt and water. 
Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood, made his 
earlier studies in Italy, where the science of anatomy had but lately 
been revived. 


387 



388 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


For bilious colic, soda and ginger in hot water. It may be taken 
freely. 

A cupful of strong coffee will remove the odor of onions from the 
breath. 

A popular proverb says that “a man is either a physician or a fool 
at forty. ’ ’ 

Pains in the side are most promptly relieved by the application of 
mustard. 

A cupful of hot water drank before meals will relieve nausea and 
dyspepsia. 

For cold in the head, nothing is better than powdered borax, sniffed 
up the nostrils. 

One in a faint should be laid flat on his back, then loosen his clothes 
and let him alone. 

There were 48,930 blind people in the United States in 1880, and 
33,880 deaf mutes. 

There is a personal as w r ell as a public hygiene —your business is .to 
care for the former. 

It is stated that but sixteen of the 134 scholars attending Amherst 
College use tobacco. 

It was Galen, 150 a.d., who first applied experimental methods to 
the study of disease. 

It is agreed on all hands that nicotine, the active principle of tobacco, 
is a powerful poison. 

Consumptive night-sweats may be arrested by spongifig the body 
nightly in salt vrater. 

In 1874 all London houses were compelled for the first time to be 
connected with sewers. 

A fever patient can be made cool and comfortable by frequent spong¬ 
ing off with soda water. 

To beat the whites of eggs quickly add a pinch of salt. Salt cools, 
and cold eggs froth rapidly. 

Whooping-cough paroxysms are relieved by breathing the fumes of 
turpentine and carbolic acid. 

Nervous spasms are usually relieved by a little salt taken into the 
mouth and allowed to dissolve. 

A drink of hot, strong lemonade before going to bed will often break 
up a cold and cure a sore throat. 

Broken limbs should be placed in natural positions, and the patient 
kept quiet until the surgeon arrives. 

Diphtheria is a specific poison and sometimes kills without any 
formation of the diphtheritic membrane. 

It was Swift who asserted that ‘ ‘the best doctors in the world are 
Dr Diet, Dr. Quiet and Dr. Merryman.” 

More cases of consumption appear among needlemakers and file- 
makers than any other classes of laborers. 

The scorpion is a total abstainer. If a drop of whisky be placed on 
one’s back it will immediately sting itself to death. 


HEALTH , HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


389 


Hemorrhages of the lungs or stomach are promptly checked by 
small doses of salt. The patient should be kept as quiet as possible. 

Sleeplessness caused by too much blood in the head may be over¬ 
come by applying a cloth wet with cold water to the back of the neck. 

In Bacon’s works we read: “A man’s own observation, what he finds 
good of and what he finds hurt of, is the best physic to preserve health.” 

Wind colic is promptly relieved by peppermint essence, taken in a 
little warm water. For small children it may be sweetened. Paregoric 
is also good. 

Sickness of the stomach is most promptly relieved by drinking a 
teacupful of hot soda and water. If it brings the offending matter up, 
all the better. 

Men of marked ability in any line have usually one deep, perpen¬ 
dicular wrinkle in the middle of the forehead, with one or two parallel to 
it on each side. 

Japanese doctors never present bills to their patients. They await 
the patient’s inclination to pay, and then thankfully accept whatever 
sum is offered. 

For stomach cramps, ginger ale or a teaspoonful of the tincture of 
ginger in a half glass of water, in which a half teaspoonful of soda has 
been dissolved. 

The Roman houses and palaces were so imperfectly lighted that in 
many living rooms the inmates were forced to depend on lamps by day 
as well as by night. 

Assuming the working age to be from twenty to thirty years, and 
counting only male workers, 440 persons in this country live on the 
labor of every 100 workers. 

Naltknehoff, of Geneva, says there are 311,000 blind persons in 
Europe, mostly from fevers, and that 75 per cent would have kept their 
sight had they been properly treated. 

The marriage rate of Germany rose 10 per cent in the year follow¬ 
ing the Franco-Prussian war. The same phenomenon was observed after 
the French war which ended in 1815. 

Absinthe is an alcoholic solution highly flavored with wormwood. 
It is much drunk in France, particularly in Paris. Its abuse is produc¬ 
tive of much evil to the nervous system. 

Tracheotomy is the operation of making an opening into the wind¬ 
pipe. It was performed upon the late German emperor, Frederick, who 
died of cancer of the larynx, June 15, 1888. 

A man will die for want of air in five minutes; for want of sleep in 
ten days; for want of water, in a week; for want of food, at varying in¬ 
tervals, dependent on various circumstances. 

The human hair is absolutely the most profitable crop that grows. 
Five tons of it are annually imported by the merchants of London. The 
Parisians harvest upward of 200,000 lbs., equal in value to $400,000 per 
annum. 

American life average for professions (Boston): Storekeepers, 41.8 
years; teamsters, 43.6 years; laborers, 44.6 years; seamen, 46.1 years; 
mechanics, 47.3years; merchants, 48.4 years; lawyers, 52.6years; farmers, 
04.2 years. 


390 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMA TION. 


The best time to bathe is just before going to bed, as any danger of 
taking cold is thus avoided; and the complexion is improved by keep¬ 
ing warm for several hours after leaving the bath. 

The flavor of cod-liver oil may be changed to the delightful one of 
fresh oyster, if the patient will drink a large glass of water poured from 
a vessel in which nails have been allowed to rust. 

In 1684, four men were taken alive out of a mine in England, after 
twenty-four days without food. In 1880 Dr. Tanner, in New York, lived 
on water for forty days, losing thirty-six pounds in weight. 

During the last Paraguayan war it was noticed that the men who 
had been without salt for three months, and who had been wounded, 
however slight, died of their wounds because they would not heal. 

A hospital for quarantine or for infectious diseases is called a laza¬ 
retto. This word is not derived from Lazarus, the Bible beggar, but 
from the isle of St. Lazarus, in Venice, where such an hospital was first 
built in 1484. 

Calisthenics, or callisthenics (Gr. kalos, “beautiful,” and sthenos , 
“strength”), is a name for exercises for promoting gracefulness and 
strength, and comprises the more gentle forms of gymnastics, especially 
adapted to girls. 

The natural rate of the pulse varies at different ages. The beats per 
minute are as follows: At birth, 130-140; 1 year, 115-130; 2 years, 100-115; 
3 years, 95-105; 4 to 7 years, 85-95; 7 to 14 years, 80-90; 14 to 21 years, 
75-85; 21 to 60 years, 70-75, and old age, 75-85. 

Appendicitis, the medical term for inflammation of a small intes¬ 
tinal appendix, the use of which no one has been able to discover, has 
become so common that physicians are advocating its removal from all 
infants as a preventive measure, like vaccination. 

Spirits are said to be “proof” when they contain fifty-seven per cent 
of alcohol. The maximum amount of alcohol, sayS Parkes, that a man 
can take daily without injury to his health is that contained in 2 oz. 
brandy, }( pt. of sherry, % pt. of claret, or 1 pt. of beer. 

One should be cautious about entering a sick room in a state of per¬ 
spiration, as the moment you become cool your pores absorb. Do not 
approach contagious diseases with an empty stomach, nor sit between 
the sick and the fire, because the heat attracts the vapor. 

Influenza (Ital., “influence;” called in French la grippe), one of the 
class of diseases to which the term zymotic is now applied, has long 
been recognized by medical writers. The popular application of the 
name to any severe cold in the head is not sanctioned by medical author¬ 
ity. 

Sal Volatile, a well-known remedy for faintness, consists essentially 
of a solution of carbonate of ammonia in alcohol. It contains in addi¬ 
tion free ammonia and the volatile oils of lemon and nutmeg. As it is a 
strongly caustic liquid, it should never be taken unless well diluted with 
water. 

Ot every 1,000 clergymen between the ages of 45 and 65, it is found 
that only 15.93 die annually. But of every 1,000 doctors between the ages 
of 45 and 65 no fewer than 28.02 die every year. This is to say, the mor¬ 
tality of medical men is almost double that of clergymen, and the rate is 
increasing. 


HEALTH, HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


391 


Small rose pimples are a sign of chicken pox; diffuse redness and 
swelling, of erysipelas; small red dots like flea bites, of measles; bright 
diffuse scarlet, of scarlet fever; small red pimples changing to pustules, 
of smallpox; rose colored spots, scattered, of typhoid fever. 

After the age of fifty the brain loses an ounce every ten years. 
Cuvier’s weighed 64, Byron’s 79, and Cromwell’s 90 ounces, but the last 
was diseased. Post-mortem examinations in France give an average of 
55 to 60 ounces for the brains of the worst class of criminals. 

Most fatal of historic plagues was the “ Black Death,” a name given 
to a form of typhus in which the body turns black and rapidly putrifies. 
An outbreak occurred in 1348, which desolated the world from China to 
Ireland. In Europe alone 2,500,000 died and in London 100,000 died. 

In the cholera visitation of 1866, the proportion of deaths per 10,000 
inhabitants in the principal cities of Europe was as follows: London, 18; 
Dublin, 41; Vienna, 51; Marseilles, 64; Paris, 66; Berlin, 83; Naples, 89; 
St. Petersburg, 98; Madrid, 102; Brussels, 184; Palermo, 107; Constanti¬ 
nople, 738. 

Coagulation is the amorphous solidification of a liquid, or part of a 
liquid, as when the casein of milk is solidified by rennet in making 
cheese, or the white of an egg by boiling. The process varies in various 
substances. Albumen, or the white of an egg, coagulates at a tempera¬ 
ture of 160°. 

Hair which is lightest in color is also lightest in weight. Light or 
blonde hair is generally the most luxuriant, and it has been calculated 
that the average number of hairs of this color on an average person’s 
head is 140,000; while the number of brown hairs is 110,000, and black 
only 103,000. 

Homoeopathy {homoion, “like;” pathos, “disease”) is a medical doc¬ 
trine, which teaches that diseases should be treated or cured by drugs 
capable of producing similar symptoms of disordered health to those 
presented by them; or, as it is commonly phrased, “like cures like” 
—similia similibus curantur. 

It is estimated that the number of insane persons in the United States 
is 168,900. Causes of Insanity.—Hereditary, 24 per cent.; drink, 14 per 
cent.; business, 12 per cent.; loss of friends, 11 per cent.; sickness, 10 per 
cent.; various, 29 per cent. This result is the medium average arrived at 
by Mulhall on comparing the returns for the United States, England, 
France and Denmark. 

Among the most valuable of medicinal agents are blisters, which when 
applied to the skin, raise the cuticle into vesicles filled with serous fluid. 
They have for their object the establishing of a counter-irritation or di¬ 
version of inflammatory action from a part in which it cannot be reached 
by remedies, or from some organ where it may do permanent mischief, 
to some more superficial part of the body 

The measurement of that part of the skull which holds the brain is 
stated in cubic inches thus: Anglo-Saxon, 105; German, 105; Negro, 96; 
Ancient Egyptian, 93; Hottentot, 58; Australian native, 58. In all races 
the male brain is about ten per cent heavier than the female. The 
highest class of apes has only 16 ounces of brain. A man’s brain, it is 
estimated, consists of 300,000,000 nerve cells, of which over 3,000 are dis¬ 
integrated and destroyed every minute. 


392 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Color-blindness is a term introduced by Sir David Brewster to de¬ 
nominate a defect of vision owing to which some persons are unable to 
distinguish certain colors correctly. It is also called Daltonism, from 
Dalton the chemist, who suffered from the defect, and who gave the first 
detailed description of it in 1794. 

Snoring isn’t confined to sleep. Persons with some forms of nasal 
catarrh snore continually. But a healthy man snores, as a rule, only 
when asleep, because then he does not control himself. He gets into 
some position, with his mouth open, and inhales through his mouth. If 
the mouth were shut he wouldn’t snore. 

Travelers in arctic regions say that the physical effects of cold there 
are about as follows: Fifteen degrees above, unpleasantly warm; zero, 
mild; 10 degrees below, bracing; 20 degrees below, sharp, but not 
severely cold; 30 degrees below, very cold; 40 degreees below, intensely 
cold; 50 degrees below, a struggle for life. 

Curling is a sport on the ice common in Scotland and Canada, where 
it is played by all classes of people. Frozen-over lakes and rivers answer 
for the purpose, but under the auspices of curling clubs, artificial shallow 
ponds are maintained for the sake of this popular sport; and the bon- 
spiels, or set matches, are contested with great spirit. 

The average duration of human life is about 33 years. One quarter 
of the people on the earth die before age 6, one-half before age 16, and 
only about one person of each 100 born lives to age 65. The deaths are 
calculated at 67 per minute, 97,790 per day, and 35,639,835 per year; the 
births at 70 per minute, 100,800 per day, and 36,792,000 per year. 

The percentage of illegitimate births for various countries, as stated 
by Mulhall, is as follows: Austria, 12.9; Denmark, 11.2; Sweden, 10.2; 
Scotland, 8.9; Norway, 8.05; Germany, 8.04; France, 7.02; Belgium, 7.0; 
United States, 7.0; Italy, 6.8; Spain and Portugal, 5.5; Canada, 5.0; 
Switzerland, 4.6; Holland, 3.5; Russia, 3.1; Ireland, 2.3; Greece, 1.6. 

Highly arched eyebrows are said to denote vivacity and brilliancy; 
level brows, strength of intellect; regularly curved eyebrows express 
cheerfulness, square ones deep thought; irregular, fickleness, versatility, 
excitability; raised at the inner corner, melancholy; joined over the nose, 
an unsettled mind. Thick and bushy eyebrows denote physical strength. 

The periods of gestation are 11 months for the horse and ass; camel, 
12 months; elephant, 2 years; lion, 5 months; cow, 9 months; buffalo, 
12 months; sheep, 5 months; dog, 9 weeks; cat, 8 weeks; sow, 16 weeks; 
the wolf 90 to 95 days. The goose sits 30 days; swans, 42; hens, 21; 
ducks, 30; peahens and turkeys, 28; canaries, 14; pigeons, 14; parrots, 40. 

The stethoscope is an instrument used by medical men in perform¬ 
ing an auscultation. It is a hollow cylinder of light wood or gutta¬ 
percha, the funnel-shaped end of which is placed upon the thorax, 
abdomen, or other part of the body of the patient, and the other end, to 
which is attached a circular ivory plate, to the ear of the practitioner. 
It was invented by Lsennec, of Paris, in 1816. 

Coma, derived from the Greek, is a term used in medicine to signify 
a state of more or less profound insensibility allied to sleep, but differing 
from natural sleep in its character as well as in the circumstances under 
which it occurs. In coma the patient lies on his back, and is either 
simply insensible to external impressions, or has a confused and dull per¬ 
ception of them, with restlessness and low delirium. 



HEALTH , HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


393 


There are 3,000,000 opium smokers in China. A paper read before 
the New York Medical Society by Dr. F. N. Hammond presents some 
important facts. In 1840 about 20,000 pounds of opium were consumed 
in the United States; in 1880, 543,450 pounds. In 1868 there were about 
90,000 habitual opium eaters in the country, now they number over 500,- 
000. More women than men are addicted to the use of the drug. 

The elephant lives 100 years and upward; rhinoceros, 20; camel, 100; 
lion, 25 to 70; tiger, leopard, jaguar, hyena, 25; beaver, 50; deer, wolf, 
20; fox, 14 to 16; monkey, 16 to 18; hare, 8; squirrel, rabbit, 7; swine, 
25; horse, 30; ass, 30; sheep, 10; cow, 20; ox, 30; swans, parrots, ravens, 
200, eagle, 100; geese, 80; hens and pigeons, 10 to 16; hawks, 36 to 40; 
cranes, 24; blackbird, 10; codfish, 15; eel, 10; crocodile, 100; tortoise, 
100 to 200; whale, 1,000 (estimated). 

If the condensed breath collected on the cool window panes of a room 
where a number of persons have been assembled be burned, a smell as of 
singed hair will show the presence of organic matter, and if the con¬ 
densed breath be allowed to remain on the windows for a few days, it 
will be found, on examination by the microscope, that it is alive with 
animaculae. It is the inhalation of air containing such putrescent 
matter which causes half ot the sick headaches, which might be avoided 
by a circulation of fresh air. 

Hunger or appetite is generally used to indicate the natural desire 
for food experienced in health. Its causes are two: (1) A condition of 
the stomach not yet accurately understood, relieved by taking food; (2) 
A condition of the system, not relieved till the products of digestion begin 
to be absorbed into the blood. These are usually present together, but 
either may act without the other. The stomach condition is that in which 
the organ is in the most favorable state for digestion, and tends to recur at 
the habitual meal hours; but often passes off if eating be long deferred, 
though the need and craving of the system for food remains. Hence the 
importance of taking food at regular hours. 

Seidlitz powders (are so named from the village of Seidlitz or Sed- 
litz in northern Bohemia, where there is a spring of natural aperient 
mineral water with similar constituents) and are composed of 120 
grains of tartrate of soda and potash, and 40 grains of bicar¬ 
bonate of soda reduced to powder, mixed and enclosed in a blue 
paper, and thirty-eight grains of powdered tartaric acid in a whitepaper. 
The contents of the blue paper are dissolved in from half a tumbler to a 
tumbler of water, and those of the white paper are then stirred in. The 
mixture should be taken while the effervescence from the liberation of 
the carbonic acid is still going on. These powders act as an agreeable 
and mild cooling aperient. 

The nutritive fluid of the tissues, as well as the great carrying 
agent of the body, is the blood. As such its functions are of a three-fold 
nature: (1) it conveys the food material to all the tissues of the body. (2) 
removes thence the waste products; and (3) its red corpuscles are the 
great carriers of oxygen, without which the act of respiration could not 
be carried on. The blood going to the tissues (arterial blood) is of a 
bright red color, due to the presence of a large excess of oxygen obtained 
in the lungs; whereas the blood returning from the tissues back to the 
heart and lungs (venous blood) is of a dark purple color, its oxygen hav¬ 
ing been removed from it in the tissues, and a large quantity of carbonic 
acid having been added to it. 


394 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


There were 2,180 lepers in Norway in 1883. The number in Spain 
and Italy is considerable. In the Sandwich Islands the disease is so prev¬ 
alent that the island of Molokai is set apart for lepers, who are under 
the direction of a French Jesuit priest. The death of Father Damien, in 
1889, called attention to the noblest instance of self-sacrifice recorded in 
the nineteenth century. His place is now filled by a younger member 
of his order, who voluntarily sacrifices his health and life to aid the out¬ 
casts. In the Seychelles Islands leprosy is also common. 

The limits of vision vary with elevation, conditions of the atmos¬ 
phere, intensity of illumination and other modifying elements in differ¬ 
ent cases. On a clear day an object one foot above a level plain may be 
seen at a distance of 1.31 miles; one 10 feet high, 4.15 miles; one 20 feet 
high, 5.86 miles; one 100 feet high, 13.1 miles; one a mile high, as the 
top of a mountain, 95.23 miles. This allows 7 irfches; or, to be exact, 
6.99 inches, for the curvature of the earth, and assumes that the size and 
illumination of the object are sufficient to produce an image. 

Stammering, or stuttering, is an infirmity of speech, the result of 
failure in co-ordinate action of certain muscles and their appropriate 
nerves. It is analogous to some kinds of lameness; to cramp or spasm, 
or partial paralysis of the arms, wrists, hands, and fingers, occasionally 
suffered by violinists, pianists, and swordsmen; to the scrivener’s palsy, 
or writer’s cramp, of men who write much. For speech—like writing, 
fencing, fingering a musical instrument, and walking—is a muscular 
act involving the co-ordinate action of many nerves and muscles. The 
words stammering and stuttering practically denote the same infirmity. 

In the small pox epidemic of 1881, in England, the returns showed 
4,478 deaths per million inhabitants—98 vaccinated to 4,380 unvaccinated 
or in the proportion of 44 to 1. In the epidemic at Leipsic in 1871, thedeath 
rate was 12,700 per million, 70 per cent of whom were unvaccinated. In 
Boston the proportion was 15 to 50, and in Philadelphia 17 to 64. During 
the*Franco-German war the Germans lost only 263 men from this disease, 
the French 23,499, the former having been revaccinated in barracks. In 
the war in Paraguay, the Brazilians lost 43,000 men from malignant or 
black small-pox, that is 35 per cent, of their army, nine cases in ten 
proving fatal. 

Longevity is the term used for great length of life attained by indi¬ 
viduals, many remarkable instances of which are on record. Among 
those on record in England may be mentioned Thomas Parr (died 1635) 
aged 153; Cardinal de Solis (d. 1785), aged 110; Charles Macklin, the 
actor (d. 1797) aged 107; Anthony Beresford (d. 1874) aged 101; Mrs. Bags- 
ter, wife of the well-known publisher, Samuel Bagster (d. 1887) aged 100; 
Sir Moses Montefiore (d. 1889), aged 100. The expectation of life taking 
the averages as given by several assurance offices, is as follows: Aged ten 
expectation 48*36 years longer life; twenty, 41*49; thirty, 34*43; forty, 
27*28; fifty, 20*18; sixty, 13*77; seventy, 8*54; eighty, 4*78; ninety, 2*11. 
The average duration of life is longer for women than men. 

Epizootics (Gr. epi, “upon,” and zoon, “an animal”) are diseases of 
animals, which manifest a common character, and prevail at the same 
time over considerable tracts of country. A curious circumstance in con¬ 
nection with them is that they usually follow the same line of route as 
the diseases of the human race; and, as a rule, when there has been a 
great epidemic, it has been followed or accompanied by an equally de¬ 
structive pestilence among animals. The cause of epizootics is not 


HEALTH ; HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY . 


395 


altogether clear, but there can be little doubt that insufficient food and 
overcrowding have great influence. Being apt to take on a low type of 
fever, they are better treated by supporting than by reducing remedies. 
Influenza in horses, and pleuro-pneumonia and vesicular epizootic in 
cattle, are examples. 


Ah! what avail the largest gifts of Heaven, 
When drooping health and spirits go amiss? 
How tasteless then whatever can be given ! 
Health is the vital principle of bliss, 

And exercise of health. 

—Thomson. 


WEIGHT AND STATURE OF MAN. 


AGE. 

MALES. 

FEMALES. 

Feet. 

Lbs. 

Feet. 

Lbs. 

o 

Years. 

1.64 

7.06 

1.62 

6.42 

2 

i l 

2.60 

25.01 

2.56 

23.53 

4 

it 

3.04 

31.38 

3 00 

28.67 

6 

it 

3.44 

38.80 

3.38 

35.29 

9 

i i 

4.00 

49.95 

3.92 

47.10 

11 

i ( 

4.36 

59.77 

4.26 

56.57 

13 

11 

4.72 

75.81 

4.60 

72.65 

15 

t i 

5.07 

96.40 

4.92 

5.10 

89.04 

17 

it 

5.36 

116.56 

104.34 

18 

i i 

5.44 

127.59 

5.13 

112.55 

20 

4 C 

5.49 

132.46 

5.16 

115.30 

30 

11 

5.52 

140.38 

5.18 

119.82 

40 

ti 

5.52 

140.42 

5.18 

121.81 

50 

60 

t( 

5.49 

139.96 

5.04 

123.86 

i t 

5.38 

136.07 

4.97 

119.76 

70 

4. 

5.32 

131.27 

4.97 

113.60 

80 

(i 

5.29 

127.54 

4.94 

108.80 

90 

<C 

5.29 

127.54 

4.94 

108.81 





Mean weight. . 


103.66 


93.73 






The average weight of a male infant at birth, it will be seen, is a little over 7 lbs.: 
of a female infant, a little less than 6%. 


COMPOSITION AND DIGESTION OF FOODS. 


FAT, WATER AND MUSCLE PROPERTIES. 


100 PARTS. 

WATER. 

MUSCLE. 

FAT. 

100 PARTS. 

WATER. 

MUSCLE. 

FAT. 

Cucumbers. 

.97.0 

1.5 

1.0 

Mutton. 

.44.0 

12.5 

40.0 

Turnips. 

.94.4 

1.1 

4.0 

Pork. 

.38.5 

10.0 

50.0 

Cabbage. 

.90.0 

4.0 

5.0 

Beans. 

.14.8 

24.0 

57.7 

Milk, cows’ .... 

.86.0 

5.0 

8.0 

Buckwheat. 

.14.2 

8.6 

75.4 

Apples . 

.84.0 

5.0 

10.0 

Barley. 

.14.0 

15.0 

68.8 

Eggs, yolk of ... 

.79.0 

15.0 

27.0 

Corn. 

.14.0 

12.0 

73.0 



1.4 

22.5 

Peas. 

.... 14.0 

23.4 

60.0 

Veal 

.68.5 

10.1 

1.6 

Wheat. 

.14.0 

14.6 

69.4 

Eggs, white of... 

. ... 53.0 

17.0 

.0 

Oats. 

.13.6 

17.0 

66.4 

Lamb. 

.50.5 

11.0 

35.0 

Rice. 

.13.5 

6.5 

79.5 

■Rppf 

....50.0 

15.0 

30.0 

Cheese. 

.10.0 

65.0 

19.0 

Chicken. 

.46.0 

18.0 

32.0 

Butter. 



100.0 


PERCENTAGE OF NUTRITION. 


Raw cucumbers, 2; raw melons, 3; boiled turnips, 4 y 2 \ milk, 7: cabbage, 7^; currants, 
10- whipped eggs, 13- beets, 14; apples, 16; peaches, 20; boiled codfish, 21; broiled veni¬ 
son 22- potatoes, 22fried veal, 24; roast pork, 24; roast poultry. 26; raw beef, 26; raw 
Errapes’ 27- raw plums, 29; broiled mutton, 30; oatmeal porridge, 75; rye bread, 79; boiled 
beans 87, boiled rice 88; barley bread, 88: wheat bread, 90; baked corn bread, 91; boiled 
barley, 92; butter, 93; boiled peas, 93; raw oils, 94. 































































MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


396 


PERIODS OF DIGESTION. 

Eength of time required for digestion of various foods. 


Rice.. 

HOURS. 

. 1 

MIN. 

0 

Eggs, raw . 

. 1 

30 

Apples. 

. 1 

30 

Trout, boiled. 

. 1 

30 

Venison, broiled. 

. 1 

35 

Sago, boiled . 

. 1 

45 

Milk “ . 

. 2 

0 

Bread, stale. 

. 2 

0 

Milk, raw . 

. 2 

15 

Turkey, boiled. 

.; 2 

25 

Goose, roast. 

. 2 

30 

Lamb, broiled. 

. 2 

30 

Potatoes. 

. 2 

30 

Beans, boiled. 

. 2 

30 

Parsnips, boiled. 

. 2 

30 

Oysters, raw. 

. 2 

55 

Eggs, boiled. 

. 3 

0 


Mutton, boiled. 

HOURS. 
. 3 

MIN. 

0 

Beef, roast. 

. 3 

0 

Bread, fresh. 

. 3 

15 

Carrots, boiled. 

. 3 

15 

Turnips, “ . 

. 3 

30 

Potatoes “ - 

. 3 

30 

Butter. 

. 3 

30 

Cheese. 

.. .. 3 

30 

Oysters, stewed.... 

. 3 

30 

Eggs, hard. 

. 3 

30 

Pork, boiled., 

3 

30 

Fowl, roast. 

. 4 

0 

Beef, fried. 

. 4 

0 

Cabbage,. 

Wild fowl. 

.... 4 

30 

. 4 

30 

Pork, roast. 

. 5 

15 

Veal, roast. 

. 5 

30 


BLEEDING AT THE NOSE. 


Roll up a piece of paper and press it under the upper lip. In obsti¬ 
nate cases, blow a little gum arabic up the nostril through a quill, which 
will immediately stop the discharge; powdered alum, dissolved in water, 
is also good. Pressure by the finger over the small artery near the ala 
(wing) of the nose, on the side where the blood is flowing, is said to 
arrest the hemorrhage immediately. Sometimes by wringing a cloth 
out of very hot water, and laying it on the back of the neck, gives relief. 
Napkins wrung out of cold water must be laid across the forehead and 
nose, the hands dipped in cold water, and a bottle of hot water applied 
to the feet. 


NEURALGIA. 

Pain may have its seat along the course of any nerve. It receives 
different names corresponding to the seat of pain. Thus we hear of 
facial neuralgia, inter-costal neuralgia, occipital neuralgia, sciatica , or 
neuralgia of the sciatic nerve, gastralgia , or neuralgia of the stomach, 
etc., etc. 

The pain of neuralgia varies in different cases and at different times 
from a slight dull ache to the most excruciating torture. The nerve 
which is the seat of pain, in many instances at least, is in a state of in¬ 
flammation. It is usually tender, as shown by examination, at points 
where pressure can be made upon the nerve, and following an attack 
there is usually a certain soreness and tenderness over the seat of the 
pain. 

Treatment. —It is impossible in this article to give the space "which 
the subject demands. The treatment embraces a large number of reme¬ 
dies and many methods of procedure. That which has effected a perma¬ 
nent cure in one case may have no effect in another. In some cases the 
pain is so persistent as to tax the physician to the utmost, who finds a 
remedy after having almost exhausted the pharmacopoeia. 

Some form of opium will always afford temporary relief if taken in 
sufficient doses, and it is one of the most valuable curative remedies in 
many cases The patient is apt to be in poor flesh. In such a case, if a 
permanent cure is to be anticipated, the general health must be im¬ 
proved, and the body weight greatly increased. A method has, of late 







































HEALTH , HYGIENE'AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


397 


years, been very successfully employed in sanitariums, where the patient 
is required to take the necessary amount of rest in bed, to take a large 
amount of the most nourishing food, at intervals of only a few hours, 
and accompanied with baths, massage and suitable tonic treatment. By 
this means the body weight is greatly increased, the general health 
built up, and this is almost always followed by entire and permanent 
relief from pain. 


THE DREADED CONSUMPTION. 

Of the total number of deaths the percentage traceable to consump¬ 
tion in the several States and Territories is as follows: Alabama, 9.6; 
Arizona, 6.1; Arkansas, 6.4; California, 15.6; Colorado, 8.2; Connecticut, 
15.1; Dakota, 8.8; Delaware, 16.1; District of Columbia, 18.9; Florida, 
8.3; Georgia, 7.9; Idaho, 6.8; Illinois, 10.3; Indiana, 12.6; Iowa, 9.9; 
Kansas, 7.3; Kentucky, 15.7; Louisiana, 10.4; Maine, 19.2; Maryland, 
14.0; Massachusetts, 15.7; Michigan, 13.2; Minnesota, 9.3; Mississippi, 
8.8; Missouri, 9.8; Montana, 5.6; Nebraska, 8.8; Nevada, 6.3; New 
Hampshire, 5.6; New Jersey, 8.9; New Mexico, 2.4; New York, 8.1; 
North Carolina, 9.5; Ohio, 13.8; Oregon, 12.1; Pennsylvania, 12.6; Rhode 
Island, 14.6; South Carolina, 9.8; Tennessee, 14.5; Texas, 6.5; Utah, 
2.8; Vermont, 16.1; Virginia, 12.2; Washington, 13.2; West Virgina, 
13.0; Wisconsin, 10.4; Wyoming, 2.6; Average, 12.0. 


INSOMNIA. 

Insomnia, or sleeplessness, is a symptom common to many nervous 
diseases, and one which requires prompt attention, as without sleep 
little good can be accomplished in other directions by treatment. The 
treatment must depend very much upon the age, occupation and other 
circumstances of the patient. If in a child, out-door play at games re¬ 
quiring exercise sufficient to produce fatigue should be encouraged. 

In men and women worried by business or domestic cares, disap¬ 
pointments or anxieties, the case is much more serious. If possible, they 
should, for a time, leave home and business, when they will often leave 
their worries also behind them. Mental labor should be abandoned en¬ 
tirely, and physical labor or sports requiring little thought, of a kind 
most comformable to the tastes of the patient, and affording the most 
pleasant diversion, should be chosen and followed to the point of fatigue. 
A generous diet of the most nutritious food should be taken, and a com¬ 
fortable spring-bed, in a well ventilated, cheerful room, should be pro¬ 
vided. One of the bromides, with tonics, may be prescribed, together 
with meat and milk. In severe cases the hydrate of choral, in from 
fifteen t© thirty-grain doses, may be given at bed-time. 


COLDS AND HOARSENESS. 

Borax has proved a most effective remedy in certain forms of colds. 
In sudden hoarseness or loss of voice in public speakers or singers, from 
colds, relief for an hour or so may be obtained by slowly dissolving, and 
partially swallowing, a lump of borax the size of a garden pea, or about 
three or four grains held in the mouth for ten or fifteen minutes before 
speaking or singing. This produces a profuse secretion of saliva, or 
“watering” of the mouth and throat, just as wetting brings back the 
missing notes to a flute when it is too dry. 





398 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


A flannel dipped in boiling water, and sprinkled with turpentine, 
laid on the chest as quickly as possible, will relieve the most severe cold 
or hoarseness. 

Another simple, pleasant remedy is furnished by beating up the 
white of one egg, adding to it the juice of one lemon, and sweetening 
with white sugar to taste. Take a teaspoonful from time to time. It 
has been known to effectually cure the ailment. 

Or, bake a lemon or sour orange twenty minutes in a moderate oven. 
When done, open at one end and take out the inside. Sweeten with 
sugar or molasses. This is an excellent remedy for hoarseness. 

An old time and good way to relieve a cold is to go to bed, and stay 
there, drinking nothing , not even water, for twenty-four hours, and eat¬ 
ing as little as possible. Or, go to bed; put your feet in hot mustard and 
water; put a bran or oatmeal poultice on the chest; take ten grains of 
Dover’s powder, and an hour afterwards a pint of hot gruel; in the 
morning, rub the body all over with a coarse towel, and take a dose of 
aperient medicine. 

Violet, pennyroyal, or boneset tea, is excellent to promote perspira¬ 
tion in case of sudden chill. Care should be taken next day not to get 
chilled by exposure to fresh out-door air. 


ASTHMA. 

Asthma is caused by a spasm of the muscular fibers of the small 
bronchial tubes, which obstruct the outward flow of air from the lungs; 
hence the great distress for want of breath, and the loud wheezing sounds. 
The disease is of nervous origin, and is sometimes hereditary. It is gen¬ 
erally worse at night. 

Treatment .—There are many remedies which for a time relieve the 
bad symptoms, and a change of climate is almost always attended by re¬ 
lief. An attack may be brought on by any irritating smoke, or vapor 
or dust contained in the breathing air. The emanation from a feather 
pillow is sufficient in some persons to produce a paroxysm. The writer 
has found the following prescription of use in a greater number of cases 
than any other. It usually cuts short the attack within a few hours: 

Iodide of potassium. 90 grains. 

Carbonate of ammonia.60 grains. 

Syrup of orange peel. 1 ounce. 

Simple syrup. 1 ounce. 

Mix. 

Take a teaspoonful every two to four hours until relieved. 


CORYZA. 

Coryza, or cold in the head , is an acute inflammation of the lining 
membrane of the nose. The eyes in this disease are also frequently in¬ 
flamed and red and the tears flow over the face. The symptoms begin with 
an itching or tingling sensation in the nose, which isfollowed by sneezing. 
A slight fever accompanies these symptoms, and not unfrequently there 
is more or less headache. 

Treatment —Twenty or twenty-five drops of laudanum should be 
taken at bed-time, the first evening after the symptoms are noticed. Not 
unfrequently this will effect a cure. If not, another dose may be taken 
the following evening, and this repeated the next. If the cold is severe 
the laudanum should be taken night and morning until relieved. It is 









HEALTH , HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


399 


also well to take four grains of quinine night and morning. Instead of 
laudanum, one-sixth of a grain of morphine, or a full dose of Dover’s 
powder, will serve the purpose equally well. Treated in the beginning, 
nothing is surer than a perfect cure in from twenty-four to forty-eight 
hours, but if not effectually treated, it is apt to extend to the larynx and 
become a severe bronchitis, or eventuate in a chronic, low-grade inflam¬ 
mation of the nasal membrane, called catarrh. 


CATARRH. 

Catarrh is a name that properly applies to all inflammations oi any 
part of the mucous membrane, such as catarrh of the stomach or of the 
bladder, but by common usage, unless qualified by another word, has 
come to mean a chronic inflammation of the nasal mucous membrane. 
It is a very troublesome disease, and is often very difficult to treat. 
Patients are frequently seen who have suffered from the disease for years. 
The inflammation is apt to extend through the eustachian tube to the 
ears, and sometimes with not only the effect to impair the hearing, but 
to quite destroy it. The odor is, in bad cases, most penetrating, render¬ 
ing the patient very offensive to his associates. 

Treatment. —In the beginning the most effective treatment is that 
recommended for coryza. Later, tonics should be given. Quinine in 
two-grain doses, three times a day; laudanum in small doses and iodide 
of potassium in five-grain doses three times a day. In the beginning 
powders and solutions snuffed up the nose usually do harm, and it is a 
question whether they ever do good in any stage. The most effective 
treatment for a chronic case is, perhaps, a change of climate. Some 
excellent cures have been known to result from a residence in Northern 
Wisconsin, or in the region of Lake Superior. 


BRONCHITIS. 

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the lining membrane of the trachea 
and bronchial tubes. It may be either acute or chronic. If acute, there 
will be a slight fever and considerable cough. The treatment should be 
the same as that advised for coryza. 

Chronic Bronchitis usually eventuates from an acute attack. The 
disease may be of years’ standing. Those cases of death of elderly people 
from exhaustion, attended by cough and expectoration, and accredited 
to consumption, may usually be put down as bronchitis. Consumption 
rarely attacks persons after 40 or 45 years of age. 

Treatment should consist partly in good living and warm dressing. 
Any of the bitter tonics, with iron, may be taken, together with some 
form of opium to relieve the cough. Iodide of potassium in five-grain 
doses, with two grains of carbonate of ammonia, taken after meals, will 
be found very useful. 


TYPHOID FEVER. 

Typhoid Fever is a disease caused by bad sewerage, the odor from 
old privy vaults, or drinking water contaminated with human excre¬ 
ment, especially from typhoid-fever patients. It is a low grade of fever, 
which attacks a person but once. It comes on so gradually that it. is 
hard to say when the disease began. It generally runs its course in spite 
of treatment. Treatment may save a case from a fatal termination, or 





400 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


reduce its duration to the minimum, which is three weeks. At first the 
patient complains of fatigue, loss of appetite, mental dullness and lack of 
interest in his work. There may be diarrhoea. Pulse ranges from 90 
to 110 per minute; temperature from 100 to 104 degrees. The skin is 
dry and of a bronze hue. There may be bleeding from the nose. The 
tongue will have a brown coat, which, if the patient is not given an 
abundance of water, will become very dry. The lips and teeth collect 
a dark brown or blackish, gum-like matter, called sordies. In the sec¬ 
ond week the patient may become more or less delirious, and, if not 
closely watched, may get out of bed, in consequence of delusions. It is 
a common thing for the patient to imagine himself away from home. 
Little red spots, like fleabites, may make their appearance upon the 
abdomen. If there has been diarrhoea, the abdomen may become dis¬ 
tended with gas. Hemorrhage from the bowels may take place. During 
the third week any or all of these symptoms may become aggravated. 

If the patient does well at the end of the third week, he will begin 
to improve, the tongue will clean, the skin become moist or wet with 
perspiration, and the mind perhaps become clear. He has not asked 
for anything, but now he may express a desire for food or drink. 

The treatment for this disease, in a mild case, is simply good hy¬ 
gienic surroundings and care. On account of the low mental condition, 
he may not be conscious of his wants. Hence he may never call for 
water or food. 

He should have milk and other nutritious food in such quantities as 
he can digest, at short but regular intervals. 

The bowels will need attention. If there be diarrhoea, some mild 
astringents may be given, as fluid extract of logwood. If the bowels are 
distended by gas, spirits of turpentine may be given. If constipation 
ensue, some mild laxative, as castor-oil, syrup or tincture of rhubarb, 
or an enema of tepid water, will relieve the symptoms. The tempera¬ 
ture and circulation can be controlled, as laid down under the head of 
fevers in general. 

In bad cases any or all of the symptoms may be aggravated, and will 
need special attention. 

Young persons are more likely to recover than persons advanced 
in life. They are also more liable to contract the disease. 


LEAD COLIC. 

Lead colic is caused by the poison from lead. The lead may be 
taken into the system by many different ways, without the knowledge of 
the patient. Persons manufacturing paints or working in shot factories 
or other places where lead is used may be poisoned. Painters are very 
liable to lead poisoning. Persons have been poisoned by sleeping in a 
newly painted room, or by using certain face washes and hair dieswdiich 
contain lead, or by drinking water which has stood in lead pipes, or beer 
or cider which has been for some time in contact with a lead faucet, and 
by many accidental or intentional adulterations of food. Lead poisoning 
is manifested by various affections of the nervous system, such as 
paralysis, as of the extensor muscles of the hand, and neuralgias, of 
which colic, or neuralgia of the intestines, is one. 

The bowels are usually constipated. The pain is sometimes dull 
and heavy, and sometimes sharp and cutting. It usually comes on very 
gradually, beginning with slight pain, and grows worse until it may be- 



HEALTH , HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


401 


come very severe. There is seldom entire relief from pain, but there are 
periods of great increase, when the paroxysms are excruciating. If not 
relieved by treatment, the pain is likely to continue for days, and per¬ 
haps for weeks, and attacks will frequently occur. Persons do not die 
from lead colic, although they may from other effects of lead poisoning. 
A blue line along the gums next the teeth is usually present in these 
cases. 

Treatment should first be .given as in ordinary colic. When the 
pain is relieved and the bowels moved, the following prescription should 
be taken, which will produce a permanent cure: 


Iodide of potassium. .1 ounce. 

Distilled water, ad...1 ounce. 

Mix. 

Dose: As directed. 


The above is a saturated solution. Begin with five drops in a wine 
glass of water three times a day after meals, and increase one drop each 
day until the patient is taking twenty-five to thirty drops three times a 
day. 


RHEUMATISM. 

Rheumatism is a constitutional disease, characterized by certain 
local manifestations. These manifestations are due to inflammation, 
acute or chronic, of the synovial membrane lining the joints, of certain 
serous membranes, particularly those of the heart, and of fibrous tissue 
elsewhere in the body. Rheumatism is classified as acute articular rheu¬ 
matism and chronic rheumatism. 

In acute articular rheumatism the lining membranes of the 
joints are inflamed. In the course of the disease certain complications 
involving internal organs are liable to arise. The parts more likely to 
become affected are the serous membranes, the endocardium and peri¬ 
cardium lining and surrounding the heart. 

The attack usually begins suddenly. Sometimes there is a slight 
amount of fever for a day or two preceding the joint affection; some¬ 
times the pain and tenderness of the joints precede the fever, but usually 
these symptoms appear together. The disease may attack any joint of 
the body, and is indeed very seldom confined to one or two. The af¬ 
fected joints are swollen, red and extremely tender. Pain is not so great 
except wdien attempting to move, or when disturbed or jarred. The 
slightest movement causes the most excruciating pain. Swelling is most 
apparent when the knees, ankles or wrists are the joints involved. The 
swelling is usually in proportion to the severity of the inflammation. One 
joint after another generally becomes involved. Sometimes upon attack¬ 
ing a new joint all tenderness and swelling disappear from the joints 
first involved. The fever ranges in this disease between 102 and 108 de¬ 
grees. Profuse sweating is a common symptom. 

The disease very rarely proves fatal. When it does it is due to the 
extension of the inflammation to the heart, and the development of 
pericarditis. Even then the number of deaths during the acute attack is 
very small, but in the fact that the heart is so frequently attacked lies the 
danger of the disease, for, as explained under the head of diseases of the 
heart, the great majority of valvular diseases of the heart are due to 
endocarditis developed during an attack of acute rheumatism. Usually, 
however, the lesion of the valves causes no inconvenience until a number 
U. I.-26 





402 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMA TION. 


of years afterward. The heart is more likely to become involved the 
more intense the disease. Other organs, such as the pleura, the perito¬ 
neum and the membranes enveloping the brain, have been known to 
suffer inflammation during the attack, but it is extremely rare. The 
head is usually free from pain. The duration of the attack varies from 
ten days to five or six weeks. There are sometimes relapses. One who 
has once suffered from acute rheumatism is more liable to subsequent 
attacks. 

Treatment: Nothwithstanding the popularity of salicylic acid, or 
the salicylate of soda, in the treatment of rheumatism during the last 
few years, we believe that as much or more may be accomplished by 
the use of what has been known as the alkaline treatment. The alkali, 
either bicarbonate of potassa or soda, should be given in full doses, every 
three or four hours. Lemon juice may be added to the dose and taken 
while effervescing. As soon as the urine is rendered alkaline (which may 
be told by testing with litmus paper, which turns to blue if dipped into 
an alkaline fluid), the dose should be greatly diminished, and taken there¬ 
after only once or twice a day. Tonics are useful. Quinine in two-grain 
doses may be given. Tincture of aconite applied to the swollen joints 
often affords relief. Chloroform liniment or soap liniment is used for 
this purpose. The salicylate of soda is much employed—perhaps at this 
time more than any other remedy. 

Chronic rheumatism differs from the acute variety in the degree 
of severity of the symptoms, and in their duration. In mild cases the 
patients are able to go about their w r ork, but suffer more or less pain in the 
affected joints. In other cases, more severe, the patient is confined to 
his bed, and frequently, with those about their avocations, there is more 
or less deformity of the joints. 

Treatment: The alkalies may be used in small doses; also the 
salicylate of soda. Iodide of potassium is sometimes very useful, and in 
malarious districts quinine is to be employed. 

The local applications to the joints here are of more importance than 
in the acute variety. Tincture of aconite, tincture of iodine and chloro- 
form liniment are very useful. 

MALARIAL FEVER.—AGUE. 

Intermittent fever is one form of malarial fever. It has cold, hot and 
sweating stages, with a normal interval following. The patient may go 
through these stages everyday, every other day, or every third day. This 
disease is caused by decaying vegetable matter. It prevails in new coun¬ 
tries, river bottoms, districts which overflow, or in the neighborhood of 
canals or mill-ponds. It may prevail in houses with bad cellars, or 
where the sills and floors are in a state of decay. It does not make its 
appearance while the land is under water, but when the water recedes 
and exposes the half rotten vegetable matter to the sun. Some physi¬ 
cians suppose this disease to be caused by a microscopic vegetable germ 
which enters the system, contaminating the blood. 

Intermittent fever is not self-protecting nor self-limiting. Some per¬ 
sons are never free from it while they reside in a malarial district. It 
runs an indefinite course if not checked by remedial agents. If not 
treated, the blood of the patient becomes impoverished, the lips pale, the 
skin sallow, the muscles w T eak and the body emaciated. The spleen be¬ 
comes large, vulgarly called an ague cake. Some persons may become 
acclimated, improve, and finally get well without medicine, but the ma- 



HEALTH , HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


403 


jority would go from bad to worse and die, or become so weak as to have 
no physical endurance or resistance, and would finally succumb to some 
other disease which they, in the depraved state of the system, are not 
able to withstand. The system may become so surcharged with the poi¬ 
son as to cause death from the severity of the chill before reaction or the 
fever stage comes on. This is what is called a “congestive chill.” Every 
chill is in reality a congestive chill—that is, during the chill some internal 
organ is congested, or contains an abnormal amount of blood; hence the 
variety of symptoms during this stage. One may have difficulty of breath¬ 
ing because of congestion of the lungs; another may have pain in the 
head; another, in the stomach or heart. 

Instead of the cold, hot and sweating stages, the patient may have 
severe periodical pains along the course of a nerve. This constitutes one 
form of neuralgia. At another time, or another patient, instead of suffer¬ 
ing from either chills or neuralgia, may have a periodical diarrhoea, or 
there may be hemorrhage from some part of the mucous membrane. 

Treatment .—The night-air contains the malarial poison in greater 
abundance than that of the day, so that if persons must live in a malarial 
region, they can lessen the liability to contract disease by being in the 
house before sunset, and remaining there until after sunrise in the morn¬ 
ing. An attack may be induced in some persons by eating anything which 
is difficult to digest. It becomes those who are susceptible to the influence 
of this virus to look well to their food. 

Some preparation of Peruvian bark enters into almost every formula 
for the cure of intermittent fever. Sulphate of cinchona is the cheapest, 
but it is more likely to disturb the stomach. Cinchonidia is cheaper than 
quinine, and is like it in appearance. It is not as likely to disturb the 
stomach as the sulphate of cinchona, but more so than quinine. Quinine 
is more used because it is less irritating to the stomach, though it is of a 
higher price. Quinine is the king in this realm of remedies. If the in¬ 
terval between the paroxysms is short, we must give larger doses, and 
closer together. When the paroxysms are farther apart, we can give 
smaller doses—three or four grains every two hours. We believe we shall 
have better effect from small doses close together than by giving doses of 
five or ten grains, four or five hours apart. We need, in ordinary cases, 
to administer from twenty to thirty grains between the paroxysms. The 
taste of quinine can be disguised by putting it in cold coffee or tea. A 
few doses of bromo-hydric acid will prevent the disagreeable effects and 
the ringing in the ears produced by quinine. 

Occasionally we meet with persons who cannot take quinine. We 
can use salicine in the same doses as quinine, or a little larger doses even. 

Arsenic is used in chronic forms of the disease and may be used where 
quinine cannot be employed. 

Nux vomica or strychnine may be used in combination with other 
remedies. _ 

TYPHUS FEVER. 

Typhus fever is a disease arising from the crowding of human beings 
into a small space, as in emigrant ships, in prisons and in the poorer 
quarters of large cities. Typhoid fever is produced from human effete 
matter thrown off from the bowels. Typhus is liable to become epidemic 
after famine or excessive privation of any kind. When once originated, 
it is contagious in densely populated districts; thence it may spread to 
cleaner and more healthy parts of the city. 



404 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


The attack is more sudden and its duration shorter, and the temper" 
ature and pulse somewhat higher than in typhoid. The eruption on the 
skin is somewhat like measles. Gangrenous spots are liable to appear, 
and may assume a very serious aspect. The tongue becomes contracted, 
dry and black; the bowels are constipated; no appetite; delirium is 
present, and is followed by coma, in which condition the patient may 
sink and die, or gradually pass into a more natural sleep, from which he 
may wake convalescent. 

Treatment similar to typhoid. Personal cleanliness; perfect ventila¬ 
tion; good, easily-digested food; milk in its various forms; an abundance 
of cold water. The circulation and temperature are to be controlled as 
directed in fevers in general. _ 

HOW TO CATCH COLD. 

A great many cannot see why it is they do not take cold when ex¬ 
posed to cold winds and rain. The fact is, and ought to be more gener¬ 
ally understood, that nearly every cold is contracted indoors, and is not 
directly due to the cold outside, but to the heat inside. A man will go 
to bed at night feeling as well as usual, and get up in the morning with 
a royal cold. He goes peeking around in search of cracks and keyholes 
and tiny drafts. Weather-strips are procured, and the house made as 
tight as a fruit can. In a few days more the whole family has colds. 

Let a man go home, tired or exhausted, eat a full supper of starchy 
and vegetable food, occupy his mind intently for a w r hile, go to bed in a 
warm, close room, and if he doesn’t have a cold in the morning it will be 
a wonder. A drink of whisky or a glass or two of beer before supper will 
facilitate matters very much. 

People swallow more colds down their throats than they inhale or 
receive from contact with the air, no matter how cold or chilly it may 
be. Plain, light suppers are good to go to bed on, and hre far more con¬ 
ducive to refreshing sleep than a glass of beer or a dose of chloral. In 
the estimation of a great many this statement is rank heresy, but 
in the light of science, common sense and experience, it is gospel 
truth. 

Pure air is strictly essential to maintain perfect health. If a person 
is accustomed to sleeping with the windows open there is but little dan¬ 
ger of taking cold winter or summer. Persons who shut up the windows 
to keep out the “night air,’’ make a mistake, for at night the only air 
we breath is “night air,” and we need good air while asleep as much or 
even more than at any other time of day. Ventilation can be accomp¬ 
lished by simply opening the window an inch at the bottom and also at 
the top, thus letting the pure air in, the bad air going outward at the 
top. Close, foul air poisons the blood, brings on disease which often, 
results in death; this poisoning of the blood is only prevented by pure 
air, which enters the lungs, becomes charged with waste particles, then 
thrown out, and which are poisonous if taken back again. It is esti¬ 
mated that a grown person corrupts one gallon of pure air every minute , 
or twenty-five barrels full in a single night, in breathing alone. 


CURI$ OF FELONS. 

Take common rock salt, as used for salting down pork or beef, 
dry in an oven, then pound it fine and mix with spirits of turpentine in 
equal parts; put it in a rag and wrap it around the parts affected; as it 




HEALTH , HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


405 


gets dry put on more, and in twenty-four hours you are cured. The felon 
will be dead. 

Or purchase the herb of stramonium at the druggist’s; steep it and 
bind it on the felon; as soon as cold, put on new, warm herbs. It will 
soon kill it, in a few hours at least. 

Or saturate a bit of grated wild turnip, the size of a bean, with spirits 
of turpentine, and apply it to the affected part. It relieves the pain at 
once; in twelve hours there will be a hole to the bone, and the felon de¬ 
stroyed; then apply healing salve’, and the finger is well. 

Another way to cure a felon: Fill a tumbler with equal parts of fine 
salt and ice; mix well. Sink the finger in the center, allow it to remain 
until it is nearly frozen and numb; then withdraw it, and when sensation 
is restored, renew the operation four or five times, when it will be found 
the disease is destroyed. This must be done before pus is formed. 

A simple remedy for felons, relieving pain at once, no poulticing, no 
cutting, no “holes to the bone,’’ no necessity for healing salve, but sim¬ 
ple oil of cedar applied a few times at the commencement of the felon, 
and the work is done. 


PREVENTION OF CHOLERA. 

Much may undoubtedly be done to prevent this dreaded disease by 
attention to cleanliness, and by disinfectants, and none of these things 
should be omitted. 

There is, however, in nearly all cases, a premonitory diarrhoea, and 
if this be effectually treated there is little danger of the full development 
of the disease. Prudent and intelligent people who give prompt atten¬ 
tion to any occurrence of diarrhoea during the prevalence of the disease 
rarely have cholera. 

If the diarrhoea occurs in a young child, full doses of paregoric 
should be given every time the bowels move. If more than eight years 
old, full doses of laudanum should be given, together with acetate of lead 
and bismuth. For an adult, twenty-five to forty drops of laudanum, or, 
instead, one-sixth to one-quarter grain of morphine after every move¬ 
ment of the bowels. Small doses of red pepper, in addition to the 
opiates, are useful. The above treatment, taken in time, will prevent 
the further development of the disease in almost every case. 

The treatment of cholera , when fully developed, does not differ during 
the first stages from that recommended during the premonitory diar¬ 
rhoea, except that the opiates should be given in larger doses. After 
collapse has taken place there is little that can be done with any .hope of 
success. Sometimes active treatment in this stage does harm; it rarely 
does good. The body should be kept warm by the application of dry 
heat. The nutrition should be kept up, and brandy and water may be 
given frequently in small quantities. 


A FAMOUS CHOLERA MIXTURE. 

More than forty-years ago, when it was found that prevention for the 
Asiatic cholera was easier than cure, the learned doctors of both hemis¬ 
pheres drew up a prescription, which was published (for working people) 
in The New York Sun , and took the name of “The Sun Cholera Mix¬ 
ture. ” It was found to be the best remedy for • loosenesss of the bowels 
ever yet devised. It is to be commended for several reasons. It is not to be 
mixed with liquor, and therefore will not be used as an alcoholic bever- 




406 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


age. Its ingredients are well known among all the common people, and 
it will have no prejudice to combat; each of the materials is in equal pro¬ 
portions to the others, and it may therefore be compounded without pro¬ 
fessional skill; and as the dose is so very small, it may be carried in a 
tiny phial in the waistcoat pocket, and be always at hand. It is: 

Take equal parts of tincture of cayenne, tincture of opium, tincture 
of rhubarb, essence of peppermint, and spirits of camphor. Mix well. 
Dose fifteen to thirty drops in a wine glass of water, according to age and 
violence of the attack. Repeat every fifteen or twenty minutes until 
relief is obtained. No one who takes it in time will ever have the chol¬ 
era. Even when no cholera is anticipated, it is a valuable remedy for 
ordinary summer complaints, and should always be kept in readiness. 


REMEDIES FOR CROUP. 

Croup, it is said, can be cured in one minute, and the remedy is 
simply alum and sugar. Take a knife or grater, and shave off in small 
particles about a teaspoonful of alum; then mix it with twice its amount 
of sugar, to make it palatable, and administer it as quickly as possible. 
Almost instantaneous relief will follow. Turpentine is said to be an ex¬ 
cellent remedy for croup. Saturate a piece of flannel, and apply it to 
the chest and throat, and take inwardly three or four drops on a lump of 
sugar. 

Another remedy: Give a teaspoonful of ipecacuanha wine every few 
minutes, until free vomiting is excited. 

Another recipe said to be most reliable: Take two ounces of the 
wine of ipecac, hive syrup four ounces, tincture of bloodroot two ounces. 
Mix it well. 

Dose, for a child one year old, five to ten drops; two years, eight to 
twelve drops; three years, twelve to fifteen drops; four years old, fifteen 
to twenty drops; five years old, twenty to twenty-five drops, and older 
children in proportion to age. Repeat as often as shall be necessary to 
procure relief. If it is thought best to produce vomiting, repeat the dose 
every ten or fifteen minutes for a few doses. 


VAL/UE OF HOT WATER. 

One of the simplest and most effectual means of relieving pain is by 
the use of hot water, externally and internally, the temperature varying 
according to the feelings of the patient. For bruises, sprains, and similar 
accidental hurts, it should be applied immediately, as hot as can be borne, 
by means of a cloth dipped in the water and laid on the wounded part, 
or by immersion, if convenient, and the treatment kept up until relief is 
obtained. If applied at once, the use of hot water will generally prevent, 
nearly, if not entirely, the bruised flesh from turning black. For pains 
resulting from indigestion, and known as wind colic, etc., a cupful of hot 
water, taken in sips, will often relieve at once. When that is insufficient, 
a flannel folded in several thicknesses, large enough to fully cover the 
painful place, should be wrung out of hot water and laid over the seat of 
the pain. It should be as hot as the skin can bear without injury, and 
be renewed every ten minutes or oftener, if it feels cool, until the pain is 
gone. The remedy is simple, efficient, harmless and within the reach of 
every one; and should be more generally used than it is. If used along 
with common sense, it might save many a doctor’s bill, and many a 
course of drug treatment as well. 




HEALTH , HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


407 


THE CURE OF EARACHE. 

Take a bit of cotton batting, put on it a pinch of black pepper, 
gather it up and tie it, dip it in sweet oil, and insert it in the ear; put a 
flannel bandage over the head to keep it warm; it often gives immediate 
relief 

Tobacco smoke, puffed into the ear, has oftentimes been effectual. 

Another remedy: Take equal parts of tincture of opium and glycer¬ 
ine. Mix, and from a warm teaspoon drop two or three drops into the 
ear, and stop the ear tight with cotton, and repeat every hour or two. It 
matter should form in the ear, make a suds with castile soap and warm 
water about 100° F., or a little more than milk warm, and have some 
person inject it into the ear while you hold that side of the head the low¬ 
est. If it does not heal in due time, inject a little carbolic acid and 
water in the proportion of one drachm of the acid to one pint of warm 
water each time after using the suds. 


NOTES ON FOOD PRODUCTS. 


RELATIVE VALUE OF FOpD (BEEF PAR). 

Oysters, 22; milk, 24; lobsters, 50; cream, 56; codfish, 68; eggs,72; turbot, 84; mutton, 
87; venison, 89; veal, 92; fowl, 94; herring, 100; beef, 100; duck, 104; salmon, 108; pork, 
116; butter, 124; cheese, 155. 

PERCENTAGE OF CARBON IN FOOD. 

Cabbage, 3; beer, 4; carrots, 5; milk, 7; parsnips, 8; fish, 9; potatoes, 12; eggs, 16; 
beef,27; bread, 27; cheese, 36; peas, 36; rice, 38; corn, 38; biscuit, 42; oatmeal,42; sugar, 
42; flour, 46; bacon, 54; cocoa, 69; butter, 79. 

FOOT-TONS OF ENERGY PER OUNCE OF FOOD. 

Cabbage, 16; carrots, 20; milk, 24; ale, 30; potatoes, 38; porter, 42; beef, 55; egg, 
57; ham, 65; bread, 83; egg (yolk), 127; sugar, 130; rice, 145; flour, 147; arrowroot, 151; 
oatmeal, 152; cheese, i68; butter, 281. 


100 lbs. raw beef 
100 “ 

400 “ raw mutton 


LOSS OF MEAT IN COOKING. 


= 67 lbs. roast 
= 74 “ boiled 
= 75 “ roast 


100 lbs. raw fowl 
100 “ 

100 “ raw fish 


= 80 roast 
= 87 boiled 
= 94 boiled 


THE PERCENTAGE OF STARCH. 

In common grains is as follows, according to Prof. Yeomans: Rice flour, 84 to 85; 
Indian meal, 77 to 80; oatmeal, 70 to 80; wheat flour, 39 to 77; barley flour, 67 to 70; rye 
flour, 50 to 61; buckwheat. 52; peas and beans, 42 to 43; potatoes, (75 per cent water), 
13 to 15. 


THE DEGREES OF SUGAR. 

In various fruits are: Peach, 1.6; raspberry, 4.0; strawberry, 5.7; currant, 6.1; goose¬ 
berry, 7.2; apple, 7.9; mulberry, 9.2; pear, 9.4; cherry, 10.8; grape, 14.9. 

Easy of Digestion.— Arrowroot, asparagus, cauliflower, baked apples, oranges, 
grapes, strawberries, peaches. , . 

Moderately Digestible.—A pples, raspberries, bread, puddings, rhubarb, choco¬ 
late, coffee, porter. 

Hard to Digest.—N uts, pears, plums, cherries, cucumbers, onions, carrots, 
parsnips. _ 


WONDERS OF THE HUMAN BODY. 


The skin contains more than two million openings, which are the 
outlets of an equal number of sweat-glands. The human skeleton con¬ 
sists of more than two hundred distinct bones. An amount of blood 
equal to the whole quantity in the body passes through the heart once 
every minute. The full capacity of the lungs is about three hundred 
and twenty cubic inches. About two-thirds of a pint of air is inhaled 
and exhaled at each breath in ordinary respiration. The stomach daily 
produces nine pounds of gastric juice for digestion of food; its capacity 
is about five pints. There are more than five hundred separate muscles 
in the body, with an equal number of nerves and blood-vessels. The 





408 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


weight of the heart is from eight to twelve ounces. It beats one hundred 
thousand times in twenty-four hours. Bach perspiratory duct is one- 
fourth of an inch in length, of the whole about nine miles. The average 
man takes five and one-half pounds of food and drink each day, which 
amounts to one ton of solid and liquid nourishment annually. A man 
breathes eighteen times a minute, and three thousand cubic feet, or 
about three hundred and seventy-five hogsheads of air every hour of his 
'existence. _ 

GYMNASTICS AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 

The principal methods of developing the physical man now pre¬ 
scribed by trainers are exercise with dumbbells, the bar bell and the 
chest weight. The rings and horizontal and parallel bars are also used, 
but not nearly to the extent that they formerly were. The movement 
has been all in the direction of the simplification of apparatus; in fact, 
one well-known teacher of the Boston Gymnasium, when asked his 
opinion, said: ‘ ‘Four bare walls and a floor, with a well-posted instructor, 
is all that is really required for a gymnasium.” 

Probably the most important as well as the simplest appliance for 
gymnasium work is the wooden dumbbell, which has displaced the pon¬ 
derous iron bell of former days. Its weight is from three-quarters of a 
pound to a pound and a half, and with one in each hand a variety of 
motions can be gone through, which are of immense benefit in building 
up or toning down every muscle and all vital parts of the body. 

The first object of an instructor in taking a beginner in hand is to 
increase the circulation. This is done by exercising the extremities, the 
first movement being one of the hands, after which come the wrists, 
then the arms, and next the head and feet. As the circulation is in¬ 
creased, the necessity for a larger supply of oxygen, technically called 
“oxygen-hunger,” is created, which is only satisfied by breathing exer¬ 
cises, which develop the lungs. After the circulation is in a satisfactory 
condition, the dumbbell instructor turns his attention to exercising the 
great muscles of the body, beginning with those of the back, strength¬ 
ening which holds the body erect, thus increasing the chest capacity, 
invigorating the digestive organs, and in fact all the vital functions. 
By the use of very light weights an equal and and symmetrical develop¬ 
ment of all part of the body is obtained, and then there are no sudden 
demands on the heart and lungs. 

After the dumbbell comes exercise with the round, or bar bell. This 
is like the dumbbell, with the exception that the bar connecting the 
balls is four or five feet, instead of a few inches in length. Bar bells 
weigh from one to two pounds each, and are found most useful in build¬ 
ing up the respiratory and digestive systems, their especial province 
being the strengthening of the erector muscles and increasing the flex¬ 
ibility of the chest. 

Of all fixed apparatus in use the pulley weight stands easily first in 
importance. These weights are available for a greater variety of objects 
than any other gymnastic appliance, and can be used either for general 
exercise or for strengthening such muscles as most require it. With 
them a greater localization is possible than with the dumbbell, and for 
this reason they are recommended as a kind of supplement to the latter. 
As chest developers and correctors of round shoulders they are most ef¬ 
fective. As the name implies, they are simply weights attached to ropes, 
which pass over pulleys, and are provided with handles. The common 



HEALTH , HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


409 


pulley is placed at about the height of the shoulder of an average man, 
but recently those which can be adjusted to any desired height have been 
very generally introduced. 

When more special localization is desired than can be obtained by 
means of the ordinary apparatus, what is known as the double-action 
chest weight is used. This differs from the ordinary kind in being pro¬ 
vided with several pulleys, so that the strain may come at different 
angles. Double-action weights may be divided into three classes—high, 
low and side pulleys—each with its particular use. 

The highest of all, known as the giant pulleys, are made especially 
for developing the muscles of the back and chest, and by stretching or 
elongating movements to increase the interior capacity of the chest. If 
the front of the chest is full and the back or side chest deficient, the 
pupil is set to work on the giant pulley. To build up the side-walls he 
stands with the back to the pulley-box and the left heel resting against 
it; the handle is grasped in the right hand if the right side of the chest 
is lacking in development, and then drawn straight down by the side; a 
step forward with the right foot, as long as possible, is taken, the line 
brought as far to the front and near the floor as can be done, and then 
the arm, held stiff, allowed to be drawn slowly up by the weight. To 
exercise the left side the same process is gone through with, the handle 
grasped in the left hand. Another kind of giant pulley is that which 
allows the operator to stand directly under it, and is used for increasing 
the lateral diameter of the chest. The handles are drawn straight down 
by the sides, the arms are then spread and drawn back by the weights. 
Generally speaking, high pulleys are most used for correcting high, 
round shoulders; low pulleys for low, round shoulders; side pulleys for 
individual high or low shoulders, and giant pulleys for the develop¬ 
ment of the walls of the chest and to correct spinal curvature. 

The traveling rings, a line of iron rings covered with rubber and 
attached to long ropes fastened to the ceiling some ten feet apart, are also 
valuable in developing the muscles of the back, arms and sides. The 
first ring is grasped in one hand and a spring taken from an elevated plat¬ 
form. The momentum carries the gymnast to the next ring, which is seized 
with the free hand, and so the entire length of the line is traversed. 
The parallel bars, low and high, the flying rings, the horizontal bar, 
and the trapeze all have their uses, but of late years they have been rel¬ 
egated to a position of distinct inferiority to that now occupied by the 
dumbbells and pulley-weights. _ 

SECRETS OF GOOD HEALTH. 

Pure atmospheric air is composed of nitrogen, oxygen and a very 
small proportion of carbonic acid gas. Air once breathed has lost the 
chief part of its oxygen, and acquired a proportionate increase of 
carbonic acid gas. Therefore, health requires that we breath the same 
air once only. 

The solid part of our bodies is continually wasting, and requires to 
be repaired by fresh substances. Therefore, food -which is to repair the 
loss should be taken with due regard to the exercise and waste of the 
body. 

The fluid parts of our bodies also wastes constantly; there is but 
one fluid in animals, which is water. Therefore, water only is necessary, 
and no artifice can produce a better drink. 

The fluid of our bodies is to the solid in proportion as nine to one. 



410 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Therefore, a like proportion should prevail in the total amount of food 
taken. 

Light exercises an important influence upon the growth and vigor 
of animals and plants. Therefore, our dwellings should freely admit 
the solar rays. 

Decomposing animal and vegetable substances yield various noxious 
gases which enter the lungs and corrupt the blood. Therefore, all im¬ 
purities should be kept away from our abodes, and every precaution be 
observed to secure a pure atmosphere. 

Warmth is essential to all the bodily functions. Therefore, an equal 
bodily temperature should be maintained by exercise, by clothing or 
by fire. 

Exercise warms, invigorates and purifies the body; clothing pre¬ 
serves the w'armth the body generates; fire imparts warmth externally. 
Therefore, to obtain and preserve warmth, exercise and clothing are pref¬ 
erable to fire. 

Mental and bodily exercise are equally essential to the general 
health and happiness. Therefore, labor and study should succeed each 
other 

Man will live most healthfully upon simple solids and fluids, of 
which a sufficient but temperate quantity should be taken. Therefore, 
an excessive use in strong drinks, tobacco, snuff, opium and all mere in¬ 
dulgences, should be avoided. 

Sudden alternations of heat and cold are dangerous (especially to 
the young and the aged). Therefore, clothing in quality and quantity 
should be adapted to the alternations of night and day and of the sea¬ 
sons; and drinking cold water when the body is hot, and hot tea and 
soups when cold, are productive of many evils. 


SUNDRY HEALTH HINTS. 

To RASE swoeren EEET. Policemen, mail carriers, and others whose 
occupation keeps them on their feet a great deal, often are troubled with 
chafed, sore and blistered feet, especially in extreme hot w r eather, no 
matter how comfortably their shoes may fit. A powder is used in the 
German army for sifting into the shoes and stockings of the foot soldiers, 
called “Fusstreupulver,” and consists of three parts salicylic acid, ten 
parts starch and eighty-seven parts pulverized soapstone. 

Rures for fat peopre and for reAn. To increase the weight: 
Eat to the extent of satisfying a natural appetite, of fat meats, butter, 
cream, milk, cocoa, chocolate, bread, potatoes, peas, parsnips, carrots, 
beets, farinaceous foods, as Indian corn, rice, tapioca, sago, corn starch, 
pastry, custards, oatmeal, sugar, sweet wines, and ale. Avoid acids. 
Exercise as little as possible, and sleep all you can. 

To reduce the weight: Eat to the extent of satisfying a natural appe¬ 
tite, of lean meat, poultry, game, eggs, milk moderately, green vegetables, 
turnips, succulent fruits, tea or coffee. Drink lime juice, lemonade and 
acid drinks. Avoid fat, butter, cream, sugar, pastry. 

When quinine wirr break up a cord. It is surprising, says a 
family physician, how certainly a cold may be broken up by a timely 
dose of quinine. When first symptons make their appearance, when a 
little languor, slight hoarseness and ominous tightening of the nasal mem¬ 
branes follow exposure to draughts or sudden chill by wet, five grains of 
this useful alkaloid are sufficient in many cases to end the trouble. But 



HEALTH , HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


411 


it must be done promptly. If the golden moment passes, nothing suffices 
to stop the weary sneezing, handkerchief using, red nose and woe-begone 
looking periods that certainly follow. 

A mistaken idea. The old adage, “Feed a cold and starve a fever, ” 
is characterized by the Journal of Health as very silly advice. If any¬ 
thing, the reverse would be nearer right. When a person has a severe 
cold it is best for him to eat very lightly, especially during the first few 
days of the attack. 

Bathing. There has been a great deal written about bathing. The 
surface of the skin is punctured with millions of little holes called pores. 
The duty of these pores is to carry the waste matter off. For instance, 
perspiration. Now, if these pores are stopped up they are of no use, 
and the body has to find some other way to get rid of its impurities. 
Then the liver has more than it can do. Then we take a liver pill 
when we ought to clean out the pores instead. The housewife is very 
particular to keep her sieve in good order; after she has strained a sub¬ 
stance through it she washes it out carefully with water, because water 
is the best thing known. That is the reason water is used to bathe 
in. But the skin is a little different from a sieve, because it is will¬ 
ing to help along the process itself. All it needs is a little encourage¬ 
ment and it will accomplish wonders. What the skin wants is rub¬ 
bing. If you should quietly sit down in a tub of water and as quietly 
get up and dry off without rubbing, your skin wouldn’t be much bene¬ 
fited. 

The water would make it a little soft, especially if it was warm. But 
rubbing is the great thing. Stand where the sunlight strikes a part of 
your body, then take a dry brush and rub it, and you will notice that 
countless little flakes of cuticle fly off. Every time one of these flakes 
is removed from the skin your body breathes a sigh of relief. An eminent 
German authority contends that too much bathing is a bad thing. There 
is much truth in this. Soap and water are good things to soften up the 
skin, but rubbing is what the skin wants. Every morning or every 
evening, or when it is most convenient, wash the body all over with 
water and a little ammonia, or anything which tends to make the water 
soft; then rub dry with a towel, and after that go over the body from top 
to toe with a dry brush. Try this tor two or three weeks, and your skin 
will be like velvet. 

Tea and COFFEE. Tea is a nerve stimulant, pure and simple, act¬ 
ing like alcohol in this respect, without any value that the latter may 
possess as a retarder of waste. It has a special influence upon those 
nerve centers that supply will power, exalting their sensibility beyond 
normal activity, and may even produce hysterical symptoms, if carried 
far enough. Its active principle, theine, is an exceedingly powerful 
drug, chiefly employed by nerve specialists as a pain destroyer, possess¬ 
ing the singular quality of working toward the surface. That is to say, 
when a dose is administered hypodermically for sciatica, for example, 
the narcotic influence proceeds outward from the point of injection, in¬ 
stead of inward toward the centers, as does that of morphia, atropia, etc. 
Tea is totally devoid of nutritive value, and the habit of drinking it to 
excess, which so many American women indulge in, particularly in the 
country, is to be deplored as a cause of our American nervousness. 

Coffee, on the contrary, is a nerve food. Tike other concentrated 
foods of its class, it operates as a stimulant also, but upon a different set 
of nerves from tea. Taken strong in the morning, it often produces diz- 


412 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


ziness and that peculiar visual symptom of overstimulus which is called 
viusccs volitantes —dancing flies. But this is an improper way to take it, 
and rightly used it is perhaps the most valuable liquid addition to the 
morning meal. Its active principle, caffeine, differs in all physiological 
respects from theine, while it is chemically very closely allied, and its 
limited consumption makes it impotent for harm. 

To Straighten Round Shoueders. A stooping figure and a halt¬ 
ing gait, accompanied by the unavoidable weakness of lungs incidental 
to a narrow chest, may be entirely cured by a very simple and easily- 
performed exercise of raising one’s self upon the toes leisurely in a per¬ 
pendicular position several times daily. To take this exercise properly 
one must take a perfectly upright position, with the heels together and 
the toes at an angle of forty-five degrees. Then drop the arms lifelessly 
by the sides, animating and raising the chest to its full capacity muscu- 
larly, the chin well drawn in, and the crown of the head feeling as if at¬ 
tached to a string suspended from the ceiling above. Slowly rise upon 
the balls of both feet to the greatest possible height, thereby exercising 
all the muscles of the legs and body; come again into standing position 
without swaying the body backward out of the perfect line. Repeat this 
same exercise, first on one foot, then on the other. It is wonderful what 
a straightening-out power this exercise has upon round shoulders and 
crooked backs, and one will be surprised to note how soon the lungs 
begin to show the effect of such expansive development. 

Care of THE Eyes. In consequence of the increase of affections 
of the eye, a specialist has recently formulated the following rules to be 
observed in the care of the eyes for school work: A comfortable temp¬ 
erature, dry and warm feet, good ventilation; clothing at the neck and 
other parts of the body loose; posture erect, and never read lying down 
or stooping. Tittle study before breakfast or directly after a heavy meal; 
none at all at twilight or late at night; use great caution about studying 
after recovery from fevers; have light abundant, but not dazzling, not 
allowing the sun to shine on desks or on objects in front of the scholars, 
and letting the light come from the left hand or left and rear; hold book 
at right angles to the line of sight or nearly so; give eyes frequent rest 
by looking up. The distance of the book from the eye should be about 
fifteen inches. The usual indication of strain is redness of the rim of the 
eyelid, betokening a congested state of the inner surface, which may be 
accompanied with some pain. When the eye tires easily rest is not the 
proper remedy, but the use of glasses of sufficient power to aid in accom¬ 
modating the eye to vision. 

How and When to Drink Water. According to Doctor Eeuf, 
when water is taken into the full or partly full stomach, it does not 
mingle with the food, as we are taught, but passes along quickly between 
the food and lesser curvative toward the pylorus, through which it passes 
into the intestines. The secretion of mucus by the lining membrane is 
constant, and during the night a considerable amount accumulates 
in the stomach; some of its liquid portion is absorbed, and that 
which remains is thick and tenacious. If food is taken into the 
stomach when in this condition, it becomes coated with this mucus, and 
the secretion of the gastric juice and its action are delayed. These facts 
show the value of a goblet of water before breakfast. This washes out 
the tenacious mucus, and stimulates the gastric glands to secretion. In 
old and feeble persons water should not be taken cold, but it may be 
with great advantage taken warm or hot. This removal of the accumu- 


HEALTH , HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


413 


lated mucus from the stomach is probably one of the reasons why taking 
soup at the beginning of a meal has been found so beneficial. 

THE HUMAN PULSE. 

The phenomenon known as the arterial pulse or arterial pulsation is 
due to the distension of the arteries consequent upon the intermittent 
injection of blood into their trunks, and the subsequent contraction 
which results from the elasticity of their walls. It is perceptible to the 
touch in all excepting very minute arteries, and, in exposed positions, is 
visible to the eye. The pulse is usually examined at the radial artery at 
the wrist, the advantages of that position being that the artery is very 
superficial, and that it is easily compressed against the bone. It is usual 
and convenient, though not quite accurate, to include under the term 
the conditions observed between the beats, as well as those produced by 
them. The condition of the pulse depends mainly on two factors, each 
of which may vary independently of the other: first , the contraction of 
the heart, which propels the stream of blood along the artery; and sec¬ 
ond, the resistance in the small arteries and capillaries, which controls 
the rate at which it leaves the artery. The first determines the frequency 
and rhythm of the pulse and the force of the beats; but the tension of the 
artery between them and their apparent duration depend mainly upon 
the peripheral resistance. “Feeling the pulse,” therefore, gives impor¬ 
tant information besides the rate of the heart’s action, and implies much 
more than the mere counting of pulsations. Dr. Broadbent says, “A 
complete account of the pulse should specify (1) the frequency— i.e. the 
number of beats per minute, with a note of any irregularity or intermis¬ 
sion or instability of the rhythm; (2) the size of the vessel; (3) the degree 
of distension of the artery between the beats; (4) the character of the pul¬ 
sation - whether its access is sudden or gradual, its duration short or long, 
its subsidence abrupt or slow, note being taken of dicrotism when pres¬ 
ent; (5) the force or strength of both the constant and variable pressure 
within the artery, as measured by its compressibility; (6) the state of the 
arterial walls.” 

The frequency of the pulse varies with age, from 130 to 140 per 
minute at birth to 70 to 75 in adult males, and with sex, being six or 
eight beats more in adult females. In some individuals it deviates con¬ 
siderably from this standard, and may even be habitually below forty or 
above ninety without any signs of disease. It is increased by exertion or 
excitement, by food or stimulants, diminished in a lying posture or dur¬ 
ing sleep. In disease (acute hydrocephalus, for example) the pulse may 
reach 150 or even 200 beats; or, on the other hand (as in apoplexy and in 
certain organic affections of the heart), it may be as slow as between 
thirty and twenty. 

The normal regular rhythm of the pulse may be interfered with either 
by the occasional dropping of a beat (intermission), or by variations in 
the force of successive beats, and in the length of the intervals separating 
them (irregularity). These varieties often occur in the same person, but 
they may exist independently of each other. Irregularity of the pulse is 
natural to some persons; in others it is the mere result of debility; but it 
may be caused by the most serious disorders, as by disease of the brain, 
or by organic disease of the heart. 

The other qualities of the pulse are much more difficult to recognize 
though of no less importance. The degree of tension or resistance to 


414 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


compression by the fingers varies greatly: in a soft or “low tension” 
pulse the artery maybe almost imperceptible between the beats; in a 
hard or“high tension’ ’ pulse it may be almost incompressible. An unduly 
soft pulse is usually an indication of debility; an unduly hard one is 
most often characteristic of disease of the kidneys and gout. But the 
tension, like the frequency of the pulse, undergoes considerable variations 
in health from temporary causes, and may in certain individuals be 
habitually above or below the average without actual disease. 

The force of the beats is a measure of the vigor and efficiency of 
the heart’s action. A strong pulse is correctly regarded as a sigh of a 
vigorous state of the system; it may, however, arise from hypertrophy of 
the left ventricle of the heart, and remain as a persistent symptom even 
when the general powers are failing. As strength of the pulse usually 
indicates vigor, so weakness of the pulse indicates debility. Various ex¬ 
pressive adjectives have been attached to special conditions of the pulse, 
into the consideration of which our space will not permit us to enter. 
Thus, we read of the jerking pulse, the hobbling pulse, the corded pulse, 
the wiry pulse, the thrilling pulse, the rebounding pulse, etc. The full 
significance of changes of the pulse in disease can only be appreciated by 
considering them in connection with the other signs and symptoms of 
the case. _ 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF EATING. 

Food consists of substances taken into the stomach for the purpose 
of digestion, or of conversion into blood. Food is rendered necessary 
by the waste of the system. Food is the primary source of nervous and 
muscular power. Food which supplies calorific power is termed heat- 
forming, respiratory, carbonaceous, or fuel food, and consists of starchy, 
saccharine, or oleaginous bodies which contain a preponderance of car¬ 
bon, or of carbon and hydrogen. Food which supplies dynamical, me¬ 
chanical and mental power, is termed histogenetic (tissue forming), nitro¬ 
genous, azotized, proteinous or albuminous; and consists of substances 
which are comparatively rich in nitrogen, as milk, eggs, flesh, cheese, 
peas, beans and other bodies containing fibrin, albumen, caseine or 
gluten. A small portion of the respiratory food also probably contrib¬ 
utes to the formation of the tissues; and likewise a portion of histogenetic 
or albuminous food to the development of the animal heat. The student 
and the hard-laboring professional man require even more tissue-forming 
food than the ordinary physical laborer. A due supply of animal food 
is necessary to the development of a high civilization; that is to the de¬ 
velopment of races who are capable of sustained muscular and mental 
labor. Alcohol, either strong or dilute, cannot possess any histogenetic 
power from its deficiency of nitrogen; and, as far as the results of mod¬ 
ern experiments can show, is neither oxidized nor burnt in the system, 
and therefore is probably neither a heat-former nor a flesh-former. It is 
consequently deficient in true food power, or, in other words, can neither 
nourish the body nor develop heat. A due mixture of heat-forming and 
flesh-forming food is most beneficial, economizing both food and digest¬ 
ive (vital or nervous) power. An excess of animal food is much more in¬ 
jurious than a corresponding excess of vegetable food. Cooking renders 
food more savory, wholesome and digestible, and destroys the parasitic 
animals which might otherwise excite serious if not fatal disease; it saves 
food, and enables the same amount of digestive (vital) power to do more 
effective work, and diminishes the quantity which would otherwise pass 



HEALTH i HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. 


415 


away undigested. Any system of instruction in cooking which does not 
include some knowledge of the chemistry and physiology of food must be 
defective. 

WHAT IS FOOD? 

How is it converted into blood? How does the blood circulate? And 
how is the body nourished and kept in health ? Are questions of the 
greatest importance in their relation to public health and morality, and 
should be generally taught in our schools. The following may 
be taken as correct as to the qualities of human food mentioned, and 
their characteristics when introduced into the stomach. Beef: When 
it is the flesh of a bullock of middle age, it affords good and strong 
nourishment, and is peculiarly well adapted to those who labor, or take 
much exercise. It will often sit easy upon stomachs that can digest no 
other kind of food; and its fat is almost as easily digested as that of veal. 
Veal is a proper food for persons recovering from indisposition, and may 
even be given to febrile patients in a very weak state, but it affords less 
nourishment than the flesh of the same animal in a state of maturity. 
The fat of it is lighter than that of any other animal, and shows the least 
disposition to putrescency. Veal is a very suitable food in costive habits; 
but of all meats it is least calculated for removing acidity from the 
stomach. Mutton, from the age of four to six years, and fed on dry 
pasture, is an excellent meat. It is of a middle kind between the firm¬ 
ness of beef and the tenderness of veal. The lean part of mutton, how¬ 
ever, is the most nourishing and conducive to health, the lat being hard 
of digestion. The head of the sheep, especially when divested of the 
skin, is very tender; and the feet, on account of the jelly they contain, 
are highly nutritive. Lamb is not so nourishing as mutton; but it is light 
and extremely suitable to delicate stomachs. House lamb, though much 
esteemed by many, possesses the bad qualities common to the flesh of 
all animals reared in an unnatural manner. Pork affords rich and sub¬ 
stantial nourishment; and its juices are wholesome when properly fed, 
and when the animal enjoys pure air and exercise. But the flesh of 
hogs reared in towns is both hard of digestion and unwholesome. Pork 
is particularly improper for those who are liable to any foulness of the skin. 

DOES AECOHOE HEEP? 

It is almost proverbial, that a dram is good for promoting the digest¬ 
ion; but this is an erroneous notion, for though a dram may give a 
momentary stimulus to the coats of the stomach, it tends to harden the 
flesh, and of course to make it more indigestible. Smoked hams are a 
strong meat, and rather fit for a relish than a diet. It is the quality of 
all salted meats that the fibers become rigid; and therefore more difficult 
of digestion; and when to this is added smoking, the heat of the chimney 
occasions the salt to concentrate, and the fat between the muscles some¬ 
times to become rancid. Bacon is also of an indigestible quality, and is 
apt to turn rancid on weak stomachs; but for those in health it is an ex¬ 
cellent food, especially when used with fowl or veal, and even eaten 
with peas, cabbage or cauliflowers. Goat’s flesh is hard and indigestible, 
but that of kids is tender as well as delicious, and affords good nourish¬ 
ment. Venison, or the flesh of deer, and that of hares, is of a nourish¬ 
ing quality, but it is liable to the inconvenience, that, though much dis¬ 
posed to putrescency of itself, it must be kept for a little time before it 
becomes tender. The blood of animals is used as an aliment by the 
poorer people, but they could not long subsist upon it unless mixed 


416 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


with oatmeal, etc., for it is not very soluble, alone, by the digestive 
powers of the human stomach, and therefore cannot prove nourishing. 

MII.K. 

Milk is of very different consistence in different animals; but that of 
cows being the kind used in diet, is at present the object of our atten¬ 
tion. Milk, where it agrees with the stomach, affords excellent nourish¬ 
ment for those who are weak and cannot digest other aliments. It does 
not readily become putrid, but it is apt to become sour on the stomach, 
and thence to produce flatulence, heart-burn or gripes, and in some con¬ 
stitutions a looseness. The best milk is from a cow at three or four years 
of age, about two months after producing a calf. It is lighter, but more 
watery than the milk of sheep and goats; while, on the other hand, it is more 
thick and heavy than the milk of asses and mares, which are next in 
consistence to human milk. On account of the acid which is generated 
after digestion, milk coagulates in all stomachs; but the caseous or 
cheesy part is again dissolved by the digestive j uices, and rendered fit 
for the purpose of nutrition. It is improper to eat acid substances with 
milk, as these would tend to prevent the due digestion of it. Cream is 
very nourishing, but, on account of its fatness, is difficult to be digested 
in weak stomachs. Violent exercise, after eating it, will, in a little 
while, convert it into butter. 

BUTTER. 

Some writers inveigh against the use of butter as universally per¬ 
nicious; but they might with equal reason condemn all vegetable oils, 
which form a considerable part of diet in the southern climates, and 
seem to have been beneficially intended by nature for that purpose. But¬ 
ter, like every other oily substance, has doubtless a relaxing quality, 
and if retained long in the stomach is liable to become rancid; but, if 
eaten in moderation, it will not produce those effects. It is, however, 
improper in bilious constitutions. The worst consequence produced by- 
butter, when eaten with bread, is that it obstructs the discharge of saliva 
in the act of mastication or chewing, by which means the food is not so 
easily digested. To obviate this effect, it would be a commendable 
practice at breakfast, first to eat some dry bread, and chew it well, till 
the salivary glands were exhausted, and afterwards to eat it with butter. 
By these means such a quantify of saliva might be carried into the stom¬ 
ach as would be sufficient for the purpose of digestion. Cheese is like¬ 
wise reprobated by < many as extremely unwholesome. It is doubtless 
not easy of digestion; and when eaten in a great quantity, may overload 
the stomach; but if eaten sparingly, its tenacity may be dissolved by the 
digestive juices, and it may yield a wholesome, though not very nour¬ 
ishing, chyle. Toasted cheese is agreeable to most palates, but it is 
rendered more indigestible by that process. 

GAME, etc. 

The flesh of birds differs in quality according to the food on which 
they live. Such as feed upon grain and berries, afford, in general, good 
nourishment; if we except geese and ducks, which are hard of digestion, 
especially the former. A young hen or chicken is a tender, delicate food,’ 
and extremely well adapted where the digestive powders are weak. But 
of all tame fowls, the capon is the most nutritious. Turkeys, as well as 
guinea or India fowls, afford a substantial nutriment, but are not so easy 
of digestion as the common domestic fowls. In all birds those parts are 
the most firm which are most exercised; in the small birds, therefore, the 
wings, and in the larger kinds the legs are commonly the most difficult of 


HEALTH , HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY . 


417 


digestion. The flesh of wild birds, in general; though more easily- 
digested, is less nourishing than that of quadrupeds, as being more dry 
on account of their almost constant exercise. Those birds are not whole¬ 
some which subsist upon worms, insects and fishes. 

EGGS. 

The eggs of birds are a simple and wholesome aliment. Those of the 
turkey are superior in all the qualifications of food. The white of eggs 
is dissolved in a warm temperature, but by much heat is rendered tough 
and hard. The yolk contains much, oil, and is highly nourishing, but 
has a strong tendency to putrefaction; on which account, eggs are im¬ 
proper for people of weak stomachs, especially when they are not 
quite fresh. Eggs boiled hard or fried are difficult of digestion, and are 
rendered still more indigestible by the addition of butter. All eggs re¬ 
quire a sufficient quantity of salt, to promote their solution in the 
stomach. 

KISH. 

Fish, though some of them be light and easy of digestion, afford less 
nourishment than vegetables, or the flesh of quadrupeds, and are, of all 
the animal tribes, the most disposed to putrefaction. Salt water fish are, 
in general, the best; but when salted, though less disposed to putres- 
cency, they become difficult of digestion. Whitings and flounders 
are the most easily digested. Acid sauces, and pickles, by resisting 
putrefaction, are a proper addition to fish, both as they retard putres- 
cency, and correct the relaxing tendency of butter, so generally used 
with this kind of aliment. Oysters and cockles are eaten both raw 
and dressed; but in the former state they are preferable, because heat dis¬ 
sipates considerably their nutritious parts as well as the salt water, which 
promotes their digestion in the stomach; if not eaten very sparingly, 
they generally prove laxative. Muscles and periwinkles are far inferior 
to oysters, both in point of digestion and nutriment. Sea muscles are 
by some supposed to be of a poisonous nature; but though this opinion 
is not much countenanced by experience, the safest way is to eat them 
with vinegar, or some other vegetable acid. 

bread. 

At the head of the vegetable class stands bread, that article of diet 
which from general use, has received the name of the .staff of life. Wheat is 
the grain chiefly used for the purpose in this country, and is among the 
most nutritive of all the farinaceous kinds, as it contains a great deal of 
starch. Bread is very properly eaten with animal food, to correct the 
disposition to putrescency; but is most expedient with such articles of 
diet as contain much nourishment in a small bulk, because it then serves 
to give the stomach a proper degree of expansion. But as it produces a 
slimy chyle, and disposes to costiveness, it ought not to be eaten in a 
large quantity. To render bread easy of digestion, it ought to be well 
fermented and baked, and it never should be used till it has stood twenty- 
four hours after being taken out of the oven, otherwise it is apt to occa¬ 
sion various complaints in those who have weak stomachs; such as flatu¬ 
lence, heartburn, watchfulness, and the like. The custom of eating 
butter with bread, hot from the oven, is compatible only with very 
strong digestive powers. Pastry, especially when hot, has all the disad¬ 
vantages of hot bread and butter, and even buttered toast, though the 
bread be stale, is scarcely inferior in its effects on a weak stomach. Dry 
toast, with butter, is by far the wholesomest breakfast. Brown wheaten 
bread, in which there is a good deal of rye, though not so nourishing as 
U. I.—27 


418 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


that made of fine flour, is both palatable and wholesome, but apt to be¬ 
come sour on weak stomachs. 

OATS, BARLEY AND RICE. 

Oats, when deprived of the husk, and particularly barley, when prop¬ 
erly prepared, are each of them softening, and afford wholesome and 
cooling nourishment. Rice likewise contains a nutritious mucilage, and 
is less used than it deserves, both on account of its wholesomeness and 
economical utility. The notion of its being hurtful to the sight is a vul¬ 
gar error. In some constitutions it tends to induce costiveness; but this 
seems to be owing chiefly to flatulence, and may be corrected by the ad¬ 
dition of some spice, such as caraways, aniseed, and the like. 

VEGETABLES. 

Potatoes are an agreeable and wholesome food, and yield nearly as 
much nourishment as any of the roots used in diet. The farinaceous or 
mealy kind is in general the most easy of digestion, and they are much 
improved by being toasted or baked. They ought always to be eaten 
with meat, and never without salt. The salt should be boiled with them. 
Green peas and beans, boiled in their fresh state, are both agreeable to 
the taste and wholesome, being neither so flatulent, nor so difficult of 
digestion, as in their ripe state; in which they resemble the other legu¬ 
minous vegetables. French beans possess much the same qualities; but 
yield a more watery juice, and have a greater disposition to produce 
flatulence. They ought to be eaten with some spice. Salads, being eaten 
raw, require good digestive powers, especially those of the cooling kind, 
and the addition of oil and vinagar, though qualified with mustard, 
hardly renders the free use of them consistent with a weak stomach. 
Spinach affords a soft lubricating aliment, but contains little nourish¬ 
ment. In weak stomachs it is apt to produce acidity, and frequently a 
looseness. To obviate these effects, it ought always to be well beaten, 
and but little butter mixed with it. Asparagus is a nourishing article in 
diet, and promotes the secretion of urine; but in common with the veg¬ 
etable class, disposes a little to flatulence. Artichokes resemble aspar¬ 
agus in their qualities, but seem to be more nutritive, and less diuretic. 
Cabbages are some of the most conspicuous plants in the garden. They 
do not afford much nourishment, but are an agreeable addition to animal 
food, and not quiet so flatulent as the common greens. They are like¬ 
wise diuretic, and somewhat laxative. Cabbage has a stronger tendency 
to putrefaction than most other vegetable substances; and, during its 
putrefying state, sends forth an offensive smell, much resembling that of 
putrefying animal bodies. So far, however, from promoting a putred dis¬ 
position in the human body, it is, on the contrary, a wholesome aliment 
in the true putrid scurvy. Turnips are a nutritious article of vegetable 
food, but not very easy of digestion, and are flatulent. This effect is in a 
good measure obviated by pressing the water out of them before they are 
eaten. Carrots contain a similar quantity of nutritious juice, but are 
among the most flatulent of vegetable productions. Parsnips are more 
nourishing and lesss flatulent than carrots, which they also exceed in the 
sweetness of their mucilage. By boiling them in two different waters, 
they are rendered less flatulent, but their other qualities are thereby 
diminished in proportion. Parsley is of a stimulating and aromatic 
nature, well calculated to make agreeable sauces. It is also a gentle 
diuretic, but preferable in all its qualities when boiled. Celery affords a 
root both wholesome and fragrant, but is difficult of digestion in its raw 
state. It gives an agreeable taste to soups, as well as renders them 


HEALTH , HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY . 


419 


diuretic. Onions, garlic and shallots are all of a stimulating nature, by 
which they assist digestion, dissolve slimy humors, and expel flatulency. 
They are, however, most suitable to persons of a cold and phlegmatic 
constitution. Radishes of all kinds, particularly the horse radish, agree 
with the three preceding articles in powerfully dissolving slimy humors. 
They excite the discharge of air lodged in the intestines. 

FRUIT. 

Apples are a wholesome vegetable aliment and in many cases me¬ 
dicinal, particularly in diseases of the breast and complaints arising 
from phlegm. But, in general, they agree best with the stomach when 
eaten either roasted or boiled. The more aromatic kinds of apples 
are the fittest for eating raw. Pears resemble much in their effects the 
sweet kinds of apples, but have more of a laxative quality, and a greater 
tendency to flatulence. Cherries are in general a wholesome fruit, when 
they agree with the stomach, and they are beneficial in many diseases, 
especially those of the putrid kind. Plums are nourishing and have be¬ 
sides an attenuating as well as a laxative quality, but are apt to produce 
flatulence. If eaten fresh, and before they are ripe, especially in large 
quantities, they occasion colics, and other complaints of the bowels. 
Peaches are not of a very nourishing quality, but they abound in juice, 
and are serviceable in bilious complaints. Apricots are more pulpy than 
peaches, but are apt to ferment, and produce acidities in weak stomachs. 
Where they do not disagree they are cooling, and tend likewise to cor¬ 
rect a disposition to putrescency. Gooseberries and currants, when ripe, 
are similar in their qualities to cherries, and when used in a green state, 
they are agreeably cooling. Strawberries are an agreeable, cooling ali¬ 
ment, and are accounted good in cases of gravel. Cucumbers are cool¬ 
ing and agreeable to the palate in hot weather; but to prevent them 
from proving hurtful to the stomach, the juice ought to be squeezed out 
after they are sliced, and vinegar, pepper, and salt afterward added. 

TEA, COFFEE, ETC. 

Tea by some is condemned in terms the most vehement and un¬ 
qualified, while others have either asserted its innocence, or gone so far 
as to ascribe to it salubrious, and even extraordinary virtues. The truth 
seems to lie between those two extremes; there is, however, an essential 
difference in the effects of green tea and of black, or of bohea; the former 
of which is much more apt to affect the nerves of the stomach than the 
latter, more especially when drank without cream, and likewise without 
bread and butter. That, taken in a large quantity, or at a later hour 
than usual, tea often produces watchfulness, is a point that cannot be 
denied; but if used in moderation, and accompanied with the additions 
just now mentioned, it does not sensibly discover any hurtful effects, 
but greatly relieves an oppression of the stomach, and abates a pain of the 
head. It ought always to be made of a moderate degree of strength: for if 
too weak it certainly relaxes the stomach. As it has an astringent taste, 
which seems not very consistent with a relaxing power, there is ground 
for ascribing this effect not so much to the herb itself as to the hot water, 
which not being impregnated with a sufficient quantity of tea, to correct 
its own emollient tendency, produces a relaxation, unjustly imputed to 
some noxious quality of the plant. But tea, like every other commodity, 
is liable to damage, and when this happens, it may produce effects not 
necessarily connected with its original qualities. It is allowed that cof¬ 
fee promotes digestion, and exhilarates the animal spirits; besides which, 
various other qualities are ascribed to it, such as dispelling flatulency, 


420 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


removing dizziness of the head, attenuating viscid humors, increasing 
the circulation of the blood, and consequently perspiration; but if drank 
too strong, it affects the nerves, occasions watchfulness, and tremor of 
the hands; though in some phlegmatic constitutions it is apt to produce 
sleep. Turkey coffee is greatly preferable in flavor to that of the West 
Indies. Drank, only in the quantity of one dish, after dinner, to pro¬ 
mote digestion, it answers best without either sugar or milk; but if taken 
at other times, it should have both; or in place of the latter, rather cream, 
which not only improves the beverage, but tends to mitigate the effect 
of coffee upon the nerves. Chocolate is a nutritive and wholesome com¬ 
position, if taken in a small quantity and not repeated too often; but is 
generally hurtful to the stomach of those with whom a vegetable diet 
disagrees. By the addition of vanilla and other ingredients, it is made 
too heating, and so much affects particular constitutions as to excite ner¬ 
vous systems, especially complaints of the head. 


THE VITAE FLUID. 

The plasma of the blood is replenished in its nutritive constituents 
by the food taken at frequent intervals. Water is necessary to render 
the blood sufficiently fluid, and to hold the other constituents in solu¬ 
tion. The presence of certain chemical substances is also essential. Lime, 
iron, and certain other minerals, must also find a place. Besides these 
conditions, certain constituents manufactured in the body itself, as liver 
sugar and the corpuscles in normal quantity, are necessary to health. 
Water is more essential than food, and oxygen more than water. One 
deprived of food dies from impoverishment of the blood; if deprived 
of water death takes place much sooner, but if deprived of oxygen, 
death ensues within five to eight minutes. About a ton and a half 
in the shape of food and drink is added to the blood of an ordinary 
man during the year. As there is the same amount of waste, a ton and 
a half of material, therefore, must be carried out of the body through the 
blood during the same time. Some of the products of oxidation, as urea 
and carbonic acid gas, are very poisonous to the nervous system. Certain 
organs, as the kidneys, skin and lungs, are designed especially to remove 
these poisons from the current of the blood, and carry them out of the 
body. If, through disease of these organs, they fail to perform their 
functions, the blood becomes highly charged with the poison, and, unless 
speedily relieved, death is the result. If the lungs fail to eliminate the 
carbonic acid, death results within a few minutes. If the kidneys fail to 
remove the urea, death must follow in a short time. The same is true if 
the skin fails in its office. 

From the above it may readily be seen that the disorders of the blood 
are many. There may be too much blood, when the condition is called 
plethora; or too little, when it is called ancemia; or it may contain too 
much water, or too little; or too many red corpuscles or too few; or the 
plasma may be deficient in tissue-building constituents; or the blood may 
be poisoned by the retention of carbonic acid and urea. 

Treatment. —A considerable quantity and wide variety of food should 
be taken regularly. A sufficient amount of water and fluids should also 
be taken. Frequent baths and a reasonable amount of exercise are ad¬ 
vised. The sleeping-room should be well ventilated, and plenty of fresh 
air supplied. Where the blood disease is due to disease of some particu¬ 
lar organ, the latter requires primary attention. 



HEARTH AND HOME 


Far reaching as the earth’s remotest span, 

Widespread as ocean foam, 

One thought is sacred in the breast of man, 

It is the thought of home; 

That little word his human fate shall bind 
With destines above. 

For there the home of his immortal soul 
Is in God’s wider love. 

—Anonymous. 

CRYSTALS THAT FORM GENTLEMEN. 

Never betray a confidence. 

Do not give a present in hopes of a return. 

Do not fail to return a friend’s call in due time. 

A compliment that is palpably insincere is no compliment at all. 

Avoid awkwardness of attitude as well as awkwardness of speech. 

Never question a child or a servant about the private affairs of others. 

Gentlemen precede a lady in going up stairs, but follow her in going 
down. 

The man or woman who engrosses the conversation is unpardonably 
selfish. 

All irritability and gloom must be thrown off when we enter 
society. 

Never fail to extend every kindly courtesy to an elderly person or an 
invalid. 

When offered a seat in the street car, accept the same with audible 
thanks. 

Never look at the superscription on a letter that you may be requested 
to mail. 

Do not be quick to answer questions, in general company, that are 
put to others. 

In walking wdth a lady through a crowd, precede her, in order to 
clear the way. 

Never indicate an object by pointing at it. Move the head or wave 
the whole hand. 

In walking on a public promenade, if you meet the same friends and 
acquaintances a number of times, it is only necessary to salute them once 
in passing. 


421 



422 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORM A T/ON. 


When entrusted with a commission, do not fail to perform it. It is 
rude to “forget” 

Avoid all exhibition of excitement, anger or impatience when an 
accident happens. 

On entering a room filled with people, do not fail to bow slightly to 
the general company. 

It is rude to examine the cards in a card-basket unless you have an 
invitation to that effect. 

Do not borrow money and neglect to pay. If you do, you will soon 
find that your credit is bad. 

Avoid any familiarity with a new acquaintance. You never know 
when you may give offence. 

If you accept favors and hospitalities, do not fail to return the same 
when the opportunity offers. 

In conversation the face must be pleasant, wearing something that 
almost approaches to a smile. 

Never allude to a present which you have given; do not even appear 
to see it if you are where it is. 

Never fail to answer an invitation, either personally or by letter, 
within a week after its receipt. 

No man or woman is well bred who is continually lolling, gesticu¬ 
lating or fidgeting in company. 

When writing to ask a favor or to obtain information, do not fail to 
enclose postage stamp for reply. 

If you cannot avoid passing between two persons who are talking, 
never fail to apologize for doing so. 

You should not lend an article that you have borrowed without first 
obtaining permission from the owner. 

Never play practical jokes. The results are frequently so serious as 
to entail life-long regret on the joker. 

Never ridicule the lame, the halt or the blind. You never know 
when misfortune may be your own lot. 

Do not appear to notice any defect, scar or peculiarity of any one. It 
is the height of rudeness to speak of them. 

Remember, when you are prone to give in charity to the sick or the 
needy, that “he who gives quickly gives double.” 

Never speak of absent persons by their Christian names or their sur¬ 
names; always refer to them as Mr. — or Mrs. — . 

Always tell the truth. Veracity is the very foundation of character. 
Without it a man is a useless and unstable structure. 

Gentlemen, when with ladies, are expected to defray all such expenses 
as car fares, entrance fee to theater, refreshments, etc. 

It is very awkward for one lady to rise and give another lady a seat 
in a street car, unless the lady standing be very old, or evidently ill and 
weak. 

When an apology is offered, accept it, and do so with a good grace, 
not in a manner that implies you do not intend changing your opinion 
of the offence. 


HEARTH AND HOME. 


423 


In conversing with a person, do not repeat the name frequently, as it 
implies one of two extremes, that of familiarity or haughtiness. 

A good bit of advice is the saying, ‘ ‘ Think twice before you speak 
once,” as thus only can you learn to always speak to the point. 

Never enter a room noisily. .Never enter the private bed-room of a 
friend without knocking. Never fail to close the door after you, and do 
not slam it. 

Never seal a letter that is to be given to a friend for delivery. It 
looks as though you doubted his or her honor in refraining from examin¬ 
ing the contents. 

Never correct any slight inaccuracy in statement or fact. It is better 
to let it pass than to subject another to the mortification of being cor¬ 
rected in company. 

Always adopt a pleasant mode of address. Whether you are speak¬ 
ing to inferiors or to your equals, it will alike give them a kindly and 
happy impression of you. 

Do not quickly follow up a present by a return. It looks too much 
like payment. Never, however, fail to make an immediate acknowl¬ 
edgment of the receipt of a gift. 

Never presume to attract the attention of an acquaintance by a touch, 
unless you are extremely intimate. Recognition by a simple nod or spoken 
word is all that can be allowed. 

The most contemptible meanness in the world is that of opening a 
private letter addressed to another. No one with the slightest self-res¬ 
pect would be guilty of such an act. 

Long hair and a scrawling signature do not constitute a genius. Be 
careful, then, how you draw upon yourself the ridicule of being a shallow 
pretender by adopting either or both. 

Sneezing, coughing and clearing the throat must be done quietly 
when it cannot possibly be avoided; but sniffing and expectorating must 
never be indulged in in decent society. 

Do not make promises that you have no intention of fulfilling. A 
person who is ever ready with promises, which he fails to execute, is 
soon known as a very unreliable party. 

It is extremely rude to look over the shoulder of one who is reading 
or writing. It is also rude to persist in reading aloud passages from your 
own book or paper to one who is also reading. 

If you are talking to a person of title, do not keep repeating the 
title. You can express all the deference you desire in voice and manner; 
it is unnecessary and snobbish to put it in words. 

Temper has much more to do with good breeding than is generally 
supposed. The French are allowed to be the most polite people in the 
world, when they are really only the most amiable. 

People must remember that they must give as well as take in this 
life, and that they must not hesitate to go to a little trouble in those 
small observances which it is so pleasant to accept. 

Neither a gentleman nor a lady will boast of the conquests he or she 
has made. Such a course would have the effect of exciting the most 
profound contempt for the boasters in the breasts of all who heard 
them. 


424 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Punctuality is a most admirable quality. The man or woman who 
possesses it is a blessing to his or her friends. The one who lacks it 
is wanting in one of the first requisites of good-breeding. 

The young of both sexes would find it an inestimable advantage 
through life to cultivate from the outset a clear intonation, a well-chosen 
phraseology, a logical habit of thought, and a correct accent. 

A rich person should be careful how he gives to the poor, lest he 
hurt their pride, while a poor person can only give to those of greater 
wealth something that has cost only affection, time or talent. 

We should not neglect very young people in our homes. If we wish 
our children to have polished manners, and to express themselves well, 
we must lead them to enter into the conversation that is going on. 

When walking with a lady, it is etiquette to give her the wall, but if 
she have your arm it is quite unnecessary to be changing at every corner 
you come to. After one or two changes the habit becomes ridiculous. 

The art of giving and receiving presents is not always an intuition. 
A generous person may unwittingly wound where he intends to please, 
while a really grateful person may, by want of tact, appear to deprecate 
the liberality of his friends. 

If a person of greater age than yourself desire you to step into a car¬ 
riage or through a door first, it is more polite to bow and obey than to 
decline. Compliance with, and deference to the wishes of others, is 
always the finest breeding. 

If you present a book to a friend, do not write the name in it unless 
it be requested. By doing so you are taking for granted that your present 
will be accepted, and also that a specimen of your penmanship will give 
additional value to the gift. 

Learn to make small sacrifices w T ith a good grace; to accept small 
disappointments in a patient spirit. A little more of self-control, a little 
more allowance for the weaknesses of others, will oftentimes change the 
entire spirit of a household. 

A well-educated person proclaims himself by his simple and terse 
language. Good and clear Saxon is much to be preferred to high- 
sounding phrases and long words; it is only the half-educated who 
imagine such a style is elegant. 

In entering an exhibition or public room where ladies are present, 
gentlemen should always lift their hats. In France a gentleman lifts his 
hat on entering a public omnibus, but that is not necessary according to 
the American code of etiquette. 

Married people are sometimes guilty of the vulgar habit of speaking 
of each other by the initial letter of their first name, or the wife of her 
husband as “Jones,” omitting the “Mr.” This denotes very ill breeding, 
and should be strenuously avoided. 

We are not to be polite merely because we wish to please, but be¬ 
cause we wish to consider the feelings and spare the time of others—be¬ 
cause we wish to carry into daily practice the spirit of the precept, “Do 
unto others as you would have others do unto you.” 

To yawn in the presence of others, to put your feet on a chair, to 
stand with your back to the fire, to take the most comfortable seat in the 
room, to do anything in fact that displays selfishness and a lack of re¬ 
spect for those about you, is unequivocally vulgar and ill-bred. 


HEARTH AND HOME. 


425 


Never employ “ extravagance in conversation.” Always employ 
the word that will express your precise meaning and no more. It is 
absurd to say it is “ immensely jolly,” or ‘‘disgustingly mean.” Such 
expressions show neither wit nor wisdom, but merest flippancy 

It is a duty to always look pleased. It is likewise a duty to appear 
interested in a story that you may have heard a dozen times before, to 
smile on the most inveterate proser; in short, to make such minor 
sacrifices of sincerity as one’s good manners and good feelings may 
dictate. 

It is in bad taste to undervalue a gift which you have yourself offered. 
If it is valueless, it is not good enough to give to your friend; and if you 
say you do not want it yourself, or that you would only throw it away 
if they did not take it, you are insulting the person whom you mean to 
benefit. 

When in general conversation you cannot agree with the proposition 
advanced, it is best to observe silence, unless particularly asked for your 
opinion, in which case you will give it modestly, but decidedly. Never 
be betrayed into too much warmth in argument; if others remain uncon¬ 
vinced, drop the subject. 

Never indulge in egotism in the drawing-room. The person who 
makes his family, his wealth, his affairs or his hobby the topic of conversa¬ 
tion is not only a bore but a violator of good taste. We do not meet in 
society to display ourselves, but to give and take as much rational enter¬ 
tainment as our own accomplishments and those of others will afford. 

A gift should always be valuable for something besides its price. It 
may have been brought by the giver from some famous place; it may have 
a valuable association with genius, or it may be unique in its workman¬ 
ship. An author may offer his book or an artist his sketch, and any one 
may offer flowers, which are always a delicate and unexceptional gift. 

Boasting is one of the most ill-bred habits a person can indulge in. 
Travelling is so universal a custom now that to mention the fact that you 
have been to Europe is to state nothing exceptional. Anybody with 
wealth, health and leisure can travel; but it is only those of real intelli¬ 
gence that derive any benefit from the art treasures of the Old World. 

Never refuse a gift unless you have a very good reason for so doing. 
However poor the gift, you should show your appreciation of the kind¬ 
ness of heart which prompted it. All such deprecatory phrases as “ I 
fear I rob you,” or ‘‘ I am really ashamed to take it,” etc., are in bad 
taste, as they seem to imply that you think the giver cannot afford it. 

Always look at the person who is conversing with you, and listen 
respectfully. In answering try to express your thoughts in the best 
manner. A loose manner of expression injures ourselves much more 
than our hearers, since it is a habit which, once acquired, is not easily 
thrown off, and when we wish to express ourselves well it is not easy to 
do so. 

A good memory for names and faces, and a self-possessed manner, 
are necessary to every one who w r ould make a good impression in society. 
Nothing is more delicately flattering to another than to find you can 
readily call his or her name, after a very slight acquaintance. The most 
popular of great men have gained their popularity principally through 
the possession of this faculty. 


426 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


No lady of good breeding will sit sideways on her chair, or with her 
legs crossed or stretched apart, or hold her chin in her hands, or twirl 
her watch chain, while she is talking; nor does a well-bred gentleman 
sit astride of his chair, or bite his nails, or nurse his leg. A man is 
always allowed more freedom than a woman, but both should be graceful 
and decorous in their deportment. 

Shyness is very ungraceful, and a positive injury to any one afflicted 
with it. It is only allowable in very young people. A person who 
blushes, stammers and fidgets in the presence of strangers will not create 
a very good impression upon their minds as to his personal w r orth and 
educational advantages. Shyness may be overcome by determined mix¬ 
ing in society. Nothing else will have an effect upon it. 

A foreigner should always be addressed by his full name; as Monsieur 
de Montmorenci, never as Monsieur only. In speaking of him, give him 
his title, if he have one. For example, in speaking to a nobleman you 
would say, Monsieur le Marquis; in speaking of him in his absence, you 
w r ould say, Monsieur le Marquis de Montmorenci. Converse wfith a 
foreigner in his own language. If you are not sufficiently at home in the 
language to do so, apologize to him, and beg permission to speak 
English. 

No one can be polite who does not cultivate a “good memory.” 
There is a class of absent-minded people who are to be dreaded on account 
of the mischief they are sure to create with their unlucky tongues. They 
always recall unlucky topics, speak of the dead as though they were liv¬ 
ing, talk of people in their hearing, and do a hundred and one things 
which, in slang parlance, is “treading on somebody’s toes.” Careless¬ 
ness can be carried to such a pitch as to almost amount to a crime. Cul¬ 
tivate a good memory, therefore, if you wish to say pleasant things and 
to ayoid disagreeable ones. 


USES OF AMMONIA. 

All housekeepers should keep a bottle of liquid ammonia, as it is 
the most powerful and useful agent for cleaning silks, stuffs and hats, in 
fact, cleans everything it touches. A few drops of ammonia in water 
wall take off grease from dishes, pans, etc , does not injure the hands as 
much as the use of soda and strong chemical soaps. A spoonful in a 
quart of warm water for cleaning paint, makes it look like new, and so 
with everything that needs cleaning. 

Spots on towels and hosiery wfill disappear with little trouble if a 
little ammonia is put into enough water to soak the articles, and they 
are left in it an hour or two before washing; and if a cupful is put into 
the water in which clothes are soaked the night before washing, the 
ease with which the articles can be washed, and their great whiteness 
and clearness when dried, wall be very gratifying. Remembering the 
small sum paid for three quarts ammonia of common strength, one can 
easily see that no bleaching preparation can be more cheaply obtained. 

No articles in kitchen use are so likely to be neglected and abused 
as the dish-cloths and dish-towels; and in washing these, ammonia, if 
properly used, is a greater comfort than anywhere else. Put a teaspoon¬ 
ful into the water in which these clothes are, or should be washed every 
day ; rub soap on the towels. Put them in the water, let them stand 
half an hour or so; then rub them out thoroughly, rinse faithfully, and dry 



HEARTH AND HOME . 


427 


out-doors in clear air and sun, and dish-cloths and towels need never 
look grey and dingy—a perpetual discomfort to all housekeepers. 

A dark carpet often looks dusty soon after it has been swept, and 
you know it does not need sweeping again; so wet a cloth or a sponge, 
wring it almost dry, and wipe off the dust. A few drops of ammonia in 
the water will brighten the colors. 

For cleaning hair-brushes it is excellent; put a tablespoonful into 
the water, having it only tepid, and dip up and down until clean; then 
dry with the brushes down, and they will be like new ones. 

When employed in washing anything that is not especially soiled, 
use the waste water afterward for the house plants that are taken down 
from their usual position and immersed in the tub of water. Ammonia 
is a fertilizer, and helps to keep healthy the plants it nourishes. In 
every way, in fact, ammonia is the housekeeper’s friend. 

Ammonia is not only useful for cleaning, but as a household medicine. 
Half a teaspoonful taken in half a tumbler of water is far better for faint¬ 
ness than alcoholic stimulants. In the Temperance Hospital, in London, 
it is used with the best results. It was used freely by Lieutenant Greely’s 
Arctic party for keeping up circulation. It is a relief in nervousness, 
headache, and heart disturbances. 


MANAGEMENT OF STOVES. 

If the fire in a stove has plenty of fresh coals on top not yet burned 
through it will need only a little shaking to start it up; but if the fire 
lopks dying and the coals look white, don’t shake it. When it has 
drawn till it is red again, if there is much ash and little fire, put coals on 
very carefully, A mere handful of fire can be coaxed back to life by 
adding another handful or so of new coals on the red spot, and giving 
plenty of draught, but don’t shake a dying fire, or you lose it. This 
management is often necessary after a warm spell, when the stove has 
been kept dormant for days, though I hope you will not be so unfortunate 
as to have a fire to coax up on a cold winter morning. They should be 
arranged over night, so that all that is required is to open the draughts 
in order to have a cheery glow in a few minutes. 


TO DESTROY INSECTS AND VERMIN. 

Dissolve two pounds of alum in three or four quarts of water. Let 
it remain over night, till all the alum is dissolved. Then, with a brush, 
apply, boiling hot, to every joint or crevice in the closet or shelves where 
croton bugs, ants, cockroaches, etc. , intrude; also to the joints and crevices 
of bedsteads, as bed bugs dislike it as much as croton bugs, roaches or 
ants. Brush all the cracks in the floor and mopboards. Keep it boiling 
hot while using. 

To keep woolens and furs from moths, be sure that none are in the 
articles when they are put away; then take a piece of strong brown 
paper, with not a hole through which even a pin can enter. Put the article 
in it, with several lumps of gum camphor between the folds. Place this 
in a close box or trunk. Cover every joint with paper. A piece of cot¬ 
ton cloth, if thick and firm, will answer. Wherever a knitting-needle 
can pass, the parent moth can enter. 

Place pieces of camphor, cedar-wood, Russia leather, tobacco leaves, 
whole cloves, or anything strongly aromatic, in the drawers or boxes 
where furs and other things to be preserved from moths are kept, and 




428 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


they will never be harmed. Mice never get into drawers or trunks where 
gum camphor is placed. 

Another Recipe. Mix half a pint of alcohol, the same quantity of 
turpentine, and two ounces of camphor. Keep in a stone bottle, and shake 
well before using. The clothes or furs are to be wrapped in linen, and 
crumbled-up pieces of blotting paper dipped in the liquid to be placed 
in the box with them, so that it smells strong. This requires renewing 
but once a year. 

TO REMOVE INK FROM CARPETS. 

When freshly spilled, ink can be removed from carpets by wetting 
in milk. Take cotton batting and soak up all of the ink that it will 
receive, being careful not to let it spread. Then take fresh cotton, wet 
in milk, and sop it up carefully. Repeat this operation, changing cot¬ 
ton and milk each time. After most of the ink has been taken up in 
this way, with fresh cotton and clean, rub the spot. Continue till all 
disappears; then wash the spot in clean warm water and a little soap; 
rinse in clear water and rub till nearly dry. If the ink is dried in, we 
know of no way that will not take the color from the carpet as well as 
the ink, unless the ink is on a white spot. In that case, salts of lemon, 
or soft soap, starch and lemon juice will remove the ink as easily as if on 
cotton. 


INCOMBUSTIBLE DRESSES. 

By putting an ounce of alum or sal amoniaq in the last water in 
which muslin or cottons are rinsed, or a similar quantity in the starch 
in which they are stiffened, they will be rendered almost uninflammable; 
or, at least, will with difficulty take the fire, and if they do, will burn 
without flame. It is astonishing that this simple precaution is so rarely 
adopted. Remember this” and save the lives of your children. 


HOW TO FRESHEN UP FURS. 

Furs when taken out in the fall are often found to have a mussed, 
crushed-out appearance. They can be made to look like new, by follow¬ 
ing these simple directions. Wet the fur with a hair-brush, brushing up 
the wrong way of the fur. Leave it to dry in the air for about half an 
hour, and then give it a good beating on the right side with a rattan. 
After beating it, comb it with a coarse comb, combing up the right way 
of the fur. 


TO WASH FEATHERS. 

Wash in warm soap-suds and rinse in water a very little blued; if 
the feather is white, then let the wind dry it. When the curl has come 
out by washing the feather or getting it damp, place a hot flat-iron so 
that you can hold the feather just above it while curling. Take a bone or 
silver knife, and draw the fibres of the feather between the thumb and 
the dull edge of the knife, taking not more than three fibers at a 
time, beginning at the point of the feather and curling one-half the 
other way. The hot iron makes the curl more durable. After a little 
practice one can make them look as well as new feathers. Or they can 
be curled by holding them over the stove or range, not near enough to 
burn; withdraw and shake out; then hold them over again, until they 
curl. When swansdown becomes soiled, it can be washed and look as 






HEARTH AND HOME. 


429 


well as new. Tack strips on a piece of muslin and wash in warm water 
with white soap, then rinse and hang in the wind to dry. Rip from the 
muslin, and rub carefully between the fingers to soften the leather. 


THE ART OF CONVERSATION. 

The art of expressing one’s thoughts in clear, simple, elegant English 
is one of the first to be attained by those who would mix in good society. 
You must talk, and talk fairly well, if you would not altogether fail of 
producing some kind of impression upon society. To have something 
good to say, and to say it in the best possible manner, is to ensure success 
and admiration. The first thing necessary for the attainment of this 
valuable accomplishment is a good education. An acquaintance with 
the current literature of the day is absolutely essential to a good talker. 
A perfect familiarity with the English language, its grammer, pronun¬ 
ciation, etc., is indispensable. Those who have to contend with a lack 
of early advantages in this respect can supply the deficiency by private 
study, and close observance wherever good English is spoken. Above 
all should they avoid associating with those who express themselves in¬ 
correctly and vulgarly. 

Nothing is so infectious as a bad accent or incorrect form of speech. 

All affectations of foreign .accent, mannerisms, exaggerations and 
slang are detestable. 

Equally to be avoided are inaccuracies of expression, hesitation, and 
undue use of French, or other foreign words, and anything approaching 
to flippancy, coarseness, triviality or prevarication. 

The voice should never be loud, no gesticulation should accompany 
the speech, and the features should be under strict control. Nothing is 
more ill-bred than a half-opened mouth, a vacant stare, a wandering eye 
or a smile ready to break into a laugh at any moment. Absolute sup¬ 
pression of emotion, whether of anger, laughter, mortification or disap¬ 
pointment, is one of the most certain marks of good-breeding. 

Next to unexceptionable grammar, correct elocution and a frank, 
easy bearing, it is necessary to be genial. If you cannot be animated, 
sympathetic and cheerful, do not go into society. Dull and stupid people 
are but so many clogs to the machinery of social life. 

The matter of conversation is as important as the manner. Tact and 
good feeling will, in people of sound sense, indicate the shoals and quick¬ 
sands to be avoided in conversation, but for safety’s sake it will be best 
to enumerate a few of them: 

Complimentary speeches should be avoided, unless, indeed, so deli¬ 
cately put as to be scarcely discernible. Flattery is suggestive of snob¬ 
bery, particularly if it be paid to people of great wealth and high posi¬ 
tion. It induces disgust on the part of the receiver, and insincerity on 
that of the giver. 

The habit of “fishing” for compliments is notably vulgar, and it is 
one in which a certain class of vain young people are very apt to in¬ 
dulge, especially among themselves in private. It indicates vanity in 
the angler and begets contempt on the part of the one who from in¬ 
terested motives nibbles gently at the bait. 

All “slang” is vulgar. This fact cannot be too forcibly impressed 
upon the minds of the young people of this day, as the alarming prev¬ 
alence of slangy conversational phrases is enough to cause our decor¬ 
ous forefathers and mothers to rise in their graves. 



430 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


Many of the daughters of our most wealthy and influential citi¬ 
zens have an idea that their position will excuse or gloss the vulgarity 
of a “cant” phrase now and then. Nothing was ever more erroneous. 
No position, however high, can excuse the vulgarity of this practice, 
and it is a grand mistake also to imagine slang to be a substitute for 
wit. We refer particularly to this habit among young ladies, as it is 
more reprehensible in them than in the opposite sex, although it in¬ 
dicates bad breeding on their part as well. 

Scandal should be avoided above all things. It is a sin against 
morality as well as good taste. 

Punning is a most objectionable habit in society. An inveterate 
punster is an intolerable bore, and unless a pun amounts to a positive 
witticism it should never be propounded in company. 

Pong arguments should be avoided in general company. They 
become tiresome to the hearers. Always endeavor to change the sub¬ 
ject after it has continued a reasonable length of time. 

Religion and politics are two subjects to be avoided in general conver¬ 
sation. People usually have strong prejudices on both these points, and 
it is a rule of good breeding to respect the prejudices of those about j*ou. 

Never interrupt the speech of another. This is an unpardonable sin 
against good breeding. 

A good listener is more to be desired than a good conversalionalist. 
In order to be a good listener you must appear to be interested, answer 
appropriately, briefly and to the point, and give your companion gene¬ 
rally the impression that you are in perfect sympathy with, and highly 
entertained by what he is saying. 

Avoid pedantic displays of learning. 

All topics specially interesting to gentlemen, such as the farm and 
business matters generally, should be excluded in general society. 

The expression of immature opinions is always in bad taste. Persons, 
young or old, should not attempt to criticise books or art unless posi¬ 
tively certain that their knowledge of the subject is sufficient to justify 
the criticism. 

Be very careful of introducing long-winded anecdote into the con¬ 
versation. Nothing is more awkward than to find an array of bored 
faces when one is not more than half through a long story. 

Repartee should be indulged in only moderately. Otherwise it may 
degenerate into flippancy, a habit much to be condemned in a certain 
class of young persons who think themselves unusually clever, or as our 
American word goes, “smart.” 

In using titles, such as “General,” “Doctor,” etc , you must always 
append the surname if you are a stranger or any other "than a most inti¬ 
mate friend. For example, you should say, “What did you observe, 
Doctor Gray?” not, “What did you observe, Doctor?” Names should be 
used as little as possible, and never familiarly. PVw solecisms give 
greater offense than a liberty taken with a name. 

In addressing a person of title in England, “My Lord” and “My 
Rady” are seldom used except by servants. The Prince of Wales may be 
addressed as “Sir,” and the Queen as “Madame.” A Frenchman, how¬ 
ever, whatever his rank, is addressed as “Monsieur,” and a French¬ 
woman, whether duchess or dressmaker, as “Madame.” It would be as 
ill-bred to omit to say Monsieur, Mein Herr, and Signor, in France, Ger¬ 
many and Italy, respectively, as it would to say, Sir, Ma’am and Miss, 
as the servants do in this country. 


HEARTH AND HOME. 


431 


The great secret of talking well is to adapt your conversation to your 
company as skillfully as may be. 

People take more interest in their own affairs than in anything else 
which you can name. A wise host or hostess will then lead a mother to 
talk of her children, an author of his book, an artist of his picture, etc. 
Having furnished the topic, you have but to listen, and acquire a reputa¬ 
tion for being amiable, agreeable, intelligent and well-bred. 

If you would not be unpopular, do not always be witty, no matter 
what your natural abilities may be in that line. People do not like to be 
always outshone. 

Do not too officiously supply a word or phrase if a speaker hesitate 
for a moment; he will think of the one he wants or supply another in 
good time. 

Never correct a fault in pronunciation or in facts, in company or in 
private, if you wish to retain a friend. 

Avoid such colloquialisms as “says I,” “you know, ” and other sense¬ 
less repetitions that might be mentioned. Never speak of a person as 
“a party,” nor refer to absent persons as “he” or “she.” Give the name 
of the lady or gentleman referred to. 

In telling a joke, do not laugh yourself before the point is reached. 
If the joke be original, do not laugh at all. 

In tete-d-tUe conversation it is ill-bred to drop the voice to a whisper. 

Egotism is always in bad taste. Allow others the privilege of pro¬ 
claiming your merits. 

Never speak of personal or private matters in general company. 

Avoid as much as possible beginning a conversation with stale com¬ 
monplaces, such as, “It is a fine day,” “The weather is charming,” etc. 

Do not speak slightingly of the city or neighborhood in w’hichyou 
may be visiting. By offending the prejudices of those about you, you 
render yourself extremely disagreeable. 

Avoid all excitability and dogmatism in conversation. Nothing is 
more annoying than to converse with an arrogant, loud-speaking per¬ 
son. 

Always yield the point in conversation if you find the argument is 
likely to become violent. 

Avoid lavishing praise on the members of your own family. It is 
almost as bad as praising yourself. 

It is exceedingly bad taste to parade the fact that you have travelled 
in foreign countries, or that you are acquainted with distinguished or 
wealthy people, that you have been to college or that your family is 
distinguished for gentility and blue blood. 

In speaking of husband or wife, do not use the surname alone. To 
say “I w r as telling Brown,” is extremely vulgar. Always prefix the Mr. 

Always endeavor to contribute your quota to the general conversa¬ 
tion. It is as much your duty to entertain as to be entertained. Bash¬ 
fulness is as much to be avoided as too much assurance. 

Never ask questions of a personal nature, such as what a certain ar¬ 
ticle cost, or why so-and-so did not go to the opera. They are decidedly 
impertinent. 

Look at the person with whom you are conversing, but do not stare. 

Avoid loud laughter in society. 

If you carry on the thread of a conversation after the entrance of a 
visitor, you should always recapitulate what has been said before his or 
her arrival. 


432 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Remember that “an excellent thing in woman is a voice low but 
sweet,” and cultivate a distinct but subdued tone. 

Emerson says: ‘ ‘You cannot have one well-bred man without a w r hole 
society of such.” Elsewhere he says: “It makes no difference, in look¬ 
ing back five years, how we have dieted or dressed; but it counts much 
whether we have had good companions in that time—almost as much as 
what we have been doing.” 

THE HOUSEHOLD AND TOILET. 

Toothache Cure. —Compound tincture benzoin is said to be one of 
the most certain and speedy cures for toothache; pour a few drops on 
cotton, and press at once into the diseased cavity, when the pain will 
almost instantly cease. 

Toothache Tincture. —Mix tannin, 1 scruple; mastic, 3 grains; 
ether, 2 drams. Apply on cotton wool, to the tooth, previously dried. 

Charcoae Tooth Paste.— Chlorate of potash, ^ dram; mint water, 
1 ounce. Dissolve and add powdered charcoal, 2 ounces; honey, 1 
ounce. 

ExcEEEENT Mouth Wash. —Powdered white Castile soap, 2 drams; 
alcohol, 3 ounces; honey, 1 ounce; essence or extract jasmine, 2 drams. 
Dissolve the soap in alcohol and add honey and extract. 

Removing Tartar from the Teeth. —This preparation is used 
by dentists. Pure muriatic acid, 1 ounce; water, 1 ounce; honey, 2 
ounces; mix thoroughly. Take a toothbrush, and wet it freely with 
this preparation, and briskly rub the black teeth, and in a moment’s 
time they will be perfectly white; then immediataly wash out the mouth 
well with water, that the acid may not act on the enamel of the teeth. 
This should be done only occasionally. 

Bad Breath. —Bad breath from catarrh, foul stomach or bad teeth, 
may be temporarily relieved by diluting a little bromo chloralum with 
eight or ten parts of water, and using it as a gargle, and swallowing a 
few drops before going out. A pint of bromo chloralum costs fifty cents, 
but a small vial will last a long time. 

Good Tooth Powder. —Procure, at a druggist’s, half an ounce of 
powdered orris root, half an ounce of prepared chalk finely pulverized, 
and two or three small lumps of Dutch pink. Let them all be mixed in 
a mortar, and pounded together. The Dutch pink is to impart a pale 
reddish color. Keep it in a close box. 

Another Tooth Powder. —Mix together, in a mortar, half an 
ounce of red Peruvian bark, finely powdered; a quarter of an ounce of 
powdered myrrh; and a quarter of an ounce of prepared chalk. 

A Safe Depilatory. —Take a strong solution of sulphuret of 
barium, and add enough finely powdered starch to make a paste. Apply 
to the roots of the hair, and allow it to remain on a few minutes, then 
scrape off with the back edge of a knife blade, and rub with sweet oil. 

Quick Depilatory for Removing Hair.— Best slack lime, 6 
ounces; orpiment, fine powder, 1 ounce. Mix with a covered sieve and 
preserve in a dry place in closely stoppered bottles. In using mix the 
powder with enough water to form a paste, and apply to the hair to be 
removed. In about five minutes, or as soon as its caustic action is felt 
bn the skin, remove, as in shaving, with an ivory or bone paper knife, 
wash with cold water freely, and apply cold cream. 

Tricopherous for the Hair.— Castor oil, alcohol, each 1 pint; 
tincture cantharides, 1 ounce; oil bergamot, yi ounce; alkanet coloring, 



HEARTH AND HOME. 


433 


to color as wished. Mix and let it stand forty-eight hours, with occa¬ 
sional shaking, and then filter. 

Liquid Shampoo.— Take bay rum, pints; water, ]/ 2 pint; glycer¬ 
ine, 1 ounce; tincture cantharides, 2 drams; carbonate of ammonia, 2 
drams; borax, ]/ 2 ounce; or take of New England rum, \ '/ 2 pints; bay rum, 
1 pint; water, x / 2 pint; glycerine, 1 ounce; tincture cantharides, 2 drams; 
ammon. carbonate, 2 drams; borax, ]/ 2 ounce; the salts to be dissolved in 
water, and the other ingredients to be added gradually. 

Cleaning Hair Brushes. —Put teaspoonful or dessertspoonful of 
aqua ammonia into a basin half full of water, comb the loose hairs out of 
the brush, then agitate the water briskly with the brush, and rinse it 
well with clear water. 

Hair Invigorator. —Bay rum, 2 pints; alcohol, 1 pint; castor oil, 
1 ounce; carbonate ammonia, half an ounce,- tincture of cantharides, 1 
ounce. Mix them well. This compound will promote the growth of 
the hair and prevent it from falling out. 

For Dandruff. —Take glycerine, 4 ounces; tincture of canthar¬ 
ides, 5 ounces; bay rum, 4 ounces; water, 2 ounces. Mix, and apply 
once a day, and rub well down the scalp. 

Razor-strop Paste. —Wet the strop with a little sweet oil, and 
apply a little flour of emery evenly over the surface. 

Shaving Compound. —Half a pound of plain white soap, dissolved 
in a small quantity of alcohol, as little as can be used; add a tablespoon¬ 
ful of pulverized borax. Shave the soap and put it in a small tin basin 
or cup; place it on the fire in a dish of boiling water; when melted, add 
the alcohol, and remove from the fire; stir in oil of bergamot sufficientto 
perfume it. 

Cure for Prickey Heat. —Mix a large portion of wheat bran 
with either cold or lukewarm water, and use it as a bath twice or thrice 
a day. Children who are covered with prickly heat in warm weather 
will be thus effectually relieved from that tormenting eruption. As soon 
as it begins to appear on the neck, face, or arms, commence using the 
bran water on these parts repeatedly through the day, and it may prob¬ 
ably spread no farther. If it does; the bran water bath will certainly 
cure it, if persisted in 

To Remove Corns from Between the Toes. —These corns are 
generally more painful than any others, and are frequently so situated as 
to be almost inaccessible to usual remedies Wetting them several 
times a day with hartshorn will in most cases cure them. Try it. 

Superior Coeogne Water.— Oil of lavender, 2 drams; oil of 
rosemary, 1 dram and a half; orange, lemon and bergamot, 1 dram 
each of the oil; also 2 drams of the essence of musk, attar of rose 10 
drops, and a pint of proof spirit. Shake all together thoroughly three 
times a day fora week. 

InexhaustibeE Smeeeing Saets. — Sal tartar, 3 drams; mur¬ 
iate ammonia, granulated, G drams; oil neroli, 5 minims; oil lavender 
flowers, 5 minims; oil rose, 3 minims; spirits ammonia, 15 minims. Put 
into the pungent a small piece of sponge filling about one-fourtli the 
space, and pour on it a due proportion of the oils, then put in the mixed 
salts until the bottle is three-fourths full, and pour on the spirits of am¬ 
monia in proper proportion and close the bottle. 

VOEATIEE Saets for PungenTS.— Liquor amnion., fort., 1 pint, oil 
lavender flowers, 1 dram, oil rosemary, fine, 1 dram, oil bergamot, 
dram, oil peppermint, 10 minims. Mix thoroughly and fill pungents or 
U. I—28 


434 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


keep in well stoppered bottle. Another formula is, sesqui-carbonate of 
ammonia, small pieces, 10 ounces; concentrated liq. ammonia, 5 ounces. 
Put the sesqui-carb. in a wide mouth jar with air-tight stopper, perfume 
the liquor ammonia to suit and pour over the carbonate, close tightly the 
lid and place in a cool place, stir with a stiff spatula every other day for 
a w’eek, and then keep it closed for two weeks, or until it becomes hard, 
when it is ready for use. 

Paste for Papering Boxes. —Boil water and stir in batter of 
wheat or rye flour. Let it boil one minute, take off and strain through 
a colander. Add, while boiling, a little glue or powdered alum. Do 
plenty of stirring while the paste is cooking, and make of consistency 
that will spread nicely. 

Aromatic Spirit of Vinegar. —Acetic acid, No. 8, pure, 8 ounces; 
camphor, ]/ 2 ounce. Dissolve and add oil lemon, oil lavender flowers, 
each 2 drams; oil cassia, oil cloves, y 2 dram each. Thoroughly mix 
and keep in well stoppered bottle. 

Rose-Water. —Preferable to the distilled for a perfume, or for 
culinary purposes: Attar of rose, 12 drops; rub it up with a half 
ounce of white sugar and 2 drams carbonate magnesia, then add 
gradually 1 quart of water and 2 ounces of proof spirit, and filter 
through paper. 

Bay Rum. —French proof spirit, 1 gallon; extract bay, 6 ounces. 
Mix and color with caramel; needs no filtering. 

Fine Lavender Water. —Mix together, in a clean bottle, a pint of 
inodorous spirit of wine, an ounce of oil of lavender, a teaspoonful of oil 
of bergamot, and a tablespoonful of oil of ambergris. 

The Virtues of Turpentine. —After a housekeeper fully realizes 
the worth of turpentine in the household, she is never willing to be with¬ 
out a supply of it. It gives quick relief to burns, it is an excellent appli¬ 
cation for corns, it is good for rheumatism and sore throats, and it is 
the quickest remedy for convulsions or fits. Then it is a sure prevent¬ 
ive against moths; by just dropping a trifle in the bottom of drawers, 
chests and cupboards, it will keep the garments from injury during 
the summer. It will keep ants and bugs from closets and store-rooms 
by putting a few drops in the corners and upon the shelves; it is sure 
destruction to bedbugs, and will effectually drive them away from their 
haunts if thoroughly applied to all the joints of the bedstead in the 
spring cleaning time, and injures neither furniture nor clothing. A 
spoonful of it added to a pail of warm water is excellent for cleaning 
paint. A little in suds washing days lightens laundry labor. 

Paste for Scrap Books.— Take half a teaspoonful of starch, same 
of flour, pour on a little boiling water, let it stand a minute, add more 
water, stir and cook it until it is thick enough to starch a shirt bosom. 
It spreads smooth, sticks well and will not mold nor discolor paper. 
Starch alone will make a very good paste. 

A Strong Paste. —A paste that will neither decay nor become 
moldy. Mix good clean flour with cold water into a thick paste well 
blended together, then add boiling water, stirring well up until it is of a 
consistency that ean be easily and smoothly spread with a brush; add to 
this a spoonful or two of brown sugar, a little corrosive sublimate, and 
about half a dozen drops of oil of lavender, and you will have a paste 
that will hold with wonderful tenacity. 

A BrieeianT Paste. —A brilliant and adhesive paste, adapted to 
fancy articles, may be made by dissolving caseine precipitated from milk 


HEARTH AND HOME. 


435 


by acetic acid and washed with pure water in a saturated solution of 
borax. 

A Sugar Paste. —In order to prevent the gum from cracking, to 
10 parts by weight of gum arabic and 3 parts of sugar, add water until 
the desired consistency is obtained. If a very strong paste is required, 
add a quantity oi flour equal in weight to the gum, without boiling the 
mixture. The paste improves in strength when it begins to ferment. 

Tin Box Cement. —To fix labels to tin boxes either of the following 
will answer: 1. Soften good glue in water, then boil it in strong vinegar, 
and thicken the liquid while boiling with fine wheat flour, so that a 
paste results. 2. Starch paste, with which a little Venice turpentine has 
been incorporated while warm. 

Paper and Leather Paste.—C over 4 parts, by weight, of glue, 
with 15 parts of cold water, and allow it to soak for several hours, 
then warm moderately till the solution is perfectly clear, and dilute with 
60 parts of boiling water, intimately stirred in. Next prepare a solution 
of 30 parts of starch in 200 parts of cold water, so as to form a thin homo¬ 
geneous liquid, free from lumps, and pour the boiling glue solution into 
it with thorough stirring, and at the same time keepthe mass boiling. 

Commercial, Mucilage. —The best quality of mucilage in the mar¬ 
ket is made by dissolving clear glue in equal volumes of water and strong 
vinegar, and adding one-fourth of an equal volume of alcohol and a 
small quantity of a solution of alum in water. Some of the cheaper prep¬ 
arations offered for sale are merely boiled starch or flour, mixed with 
nitric acid to prevent their gelatinizing. 

Acid-Proof Paste.--A paste formed by mixing powdered glass with 
a concentrated solution of silicate of soda makes an excellent acid-proof 
cement. 

Paste To Fasten Cloth to Wood. —Take a plump pound of wheat 
flour, one tablespoonful of powdered resin, one tablespoo'nful of finely 
powdered alum, and rub the mixture in a suitable vessel, with water, 
to a uniform, smooth paste; transfer this to a small kettle over a fire, 
and stir until the paste is perfectly homogeneous without lumps. As soon 
as the mass has become so stiff that the stirrer remains upright in it, 
transfer it to another vessel and cover it up so that no skin may form 
on its surface. 

This paste is applied in a very thin layer to the surface of the table; 
the cloth, or leather, is then laid and pressed upon it, and smoothed 
with a roller. The ends are cut off after drying. If leather is to be fast¬ 
ened on, this must first be moistened with water. The paste is then ap¬ 
plied, and the leather rubbed smooth with a cloth. 

PASTE FOR Printing Office.— Take 2 gallons of cold water and 
1 quart of wheat flour, rub out all the lumps, then add one-fourth 
pound of finely pulverized alum and boil the mixture for 10 minutes, 
or until a thick consistency is reached. Now add 1 quart of hot water 
and boil again until the paste becomes a pale brown color, and thick. 
The paste should be well stirred during both processes of cooking. Paste 
thus made will keep sweet for two weeks and prove very adhesive. 

To Take Smoke Stains from Wales- An easy and sure way to 
remove smoke stains from common plain ceilings is to mix wood ashes 
with the whitewash just before applying, A pint of ashes to a small 
pail of whitewash is sufficient, but a little more or less will do no harm. 

To REMOVE Stains from Broadcloth. —Take an ounce of pipe¬ 
clay, which has been ground fine, mix it with twelve drops of alcohol 


436 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


and the same quantity of spirits of turpentine. Whenever you wish to 
remove any stains from cloth, moisten a little of this mixture with alco¬ 
hol and rub it on the spots. Let it remain till dry, then rub it off with a 
woolen cloth, and the spots will disappear. 

To Remove Red Stains oe Fruit from Linen.— Moisten the cloth 
and hold it over a piece of sulphur, then wash thoroughly, or else the 
spots may reappear. 

To Remove Oie Stains. —Take 3 ounces of spirits of turpen¬ 
tine, and 1 ounce of essence of lemon, mix well, and apply it as you 
would any other scouring drops. It will take out all the grease. 

Iron Stains may be removed by the salt of lemons. Many stains 
may be removed by dipping the linen in sour buttermilk, and then 
drying it in a hot sun; wash it in cold water, repeat this three or four 
times. 

To Remove Oie Stains from Wood. —Mix together fuller’s earth 
and soap lees, and rub it into the boards. Let it dry and then scour it 
off with some strong soft soap and sand, or use lees to scour it with. It 
should be put on hot, which may easily be done by heating the lees. 

To Remove Tea Stains. —Mix thoroughly soft soap and salt—say 
a tablespoonful of salt to a teacupful of soap, rub on the spots and spread 
the cloth on the grass where the sun will shine on it. Let it lie two or 
three days, then wash. If the spots are wet occasionally while lying on 
the grass, it will hasten the bleaching. 

To Remove Stains from Musuin.— If you have stained your mus¬ 
lin or gingham dress, or your white pants with berries, before whetting 
with anything else, pour boiling water through the stains and they wall 
disappear. Before fruit juice dries it can often be removed by cold water, 
using a sponge and towel if necessary. 

To Remove Acid Stains.— Stains caused by acids may be removed 
by tying some pearlash up in the stained part; scrape some soap in cold, 
soft water, and boil the linen until the stain is gone. 

To Disinfect Sinks and Drains. —Copperas dissolved in water, 
one-fourth of a pound to a gallon, and poured into a sink and water 
drain occasionally, will keep such places sweet and wholesome. A little 
chloride of lime, say half a pound to a gallon of water, will have the 
same effect, and either of these costs but a trifle. 

A preparation may be made at home which will answer about as 
well as the chloride of lime. Dissolve a bushel of salt in a barrel of 
water, and with the salt water slack a barrel of lime, which should be 
made wet enough to form a thin paste or wash. 

To Disinfect a Cellar.—A damp, musty cellar may be sweetened 
by sprinkling upon the floor pulverized copperas, chloride of lime, or 
even common lime. The most effective means we have ever used to dis¬ 
infect decaying vegetable matter is chloride of lime in solution. One 
pound may be dissolved in two gallons of water. Plaster of Paris has 
also been found an excellent absorbent of noxious odors. If used one 
part with three parts of charcoal, it will be found still better. 

How TO Thaw Out a Water Pipe.—W ater pipes usually freeze up 
when exposed, for inside the walls, where they cannot be reached, they 
are or should be packed to prevent freezing. To thaw out a frozen pipe 
bundle a newspaper into a torch, light it, and pass it along the pipe 
slowly. The ice will yield to this much quicker than to hot water or 
wrappings of hot cloths, as is the common practice. 

To Prevent Mold.—A small quantity of carbolic acid added to 


HEARTH AND HOME. 


437 


paste, mucilage and ink, will prevent mold. An ounce of the acid to a 
gallon of whitewash will keep cellars and dairies from the disagreeable 
odor which often taints milk and meat kept in such places. 

• Economical Fire Kindler.— One may be made by dipping corn 
cobs into a mixture of melted resin and tar, and drying. 

How to Keep Eggs Fresh. —The great secretin keeping eggs con¬ 
sists in entirely excluding the air from the interior. The lining next to 
the shell is, in its natural state, impervious to air, and the albumen 
is calculated to sustain it, but dampness and heat will cause decay, and, 
if the egg is allowed to lie in one position, especially upon one side, the 
yolk sinks through the albumen and settles upon the lining, and, not 
• possessing proper qualities for preserving the skin in a healthy condi¬ 
tion, it dries, and air penetrates, and begins the work of destruction. 
Where eggs are set upon their small ends, the yolk is much less liable to 
reach the lining of the shell. Where eggs are packed in a barrel, keg or 
bucket, it is a good plan to turn the whole quantity on to a different 
side once in a while 

Indelible Ink. —An indelible ink that cannot be erased, even with 
acids, can be obtained from the following recipe: To good gall ink add 
a strong solution of Prussian blue dissolved in distilled water. This will 
form a writing fluid which cannot be erased without destruction of the 
paper. The ink will w r rite greenish blue, but afterward will turn black. 

To Get a Broken Cork Out of a Bottle. —If in drawing a 
cork, it breaks, and the lower part falls down into the liquid, tie a long 
loop in a bit of twine, or small cord, and put it in, holding the bottle so 
as to bring the piece of cork near to the lower part of the neck. Catch 
it in the loop, so as to hold it stationary. You can easily extract it with 
a corkscrew. 

A Wash for Cleaning Silver. —Mix together half an ounce of 
fine salt, half an ounce of powdered alum, and half an ounce of cream 
of tartar. Put them into a large white-ware pitcher, and pour on two 
quarts of water, and stir them frequently, till entirely dissolved. Then 
transfer the mixture to clean bottles, and cork them closely. Before 
using it, shake the bottles well. Pour some of the liquid into a bowl, 
and wash the silver all over with it, using an old, soft, fine linen cloth. 
Eet it stand about ten minutes, and then rub it dry, with a buckskin. It 
will make the silver like new. 

To Remove the Odor From a Vial. —The odor of its last con¬ 
tents may be removed from a vial by filling it with cold water, and let¬ 
ting it stand in any airy place uncorked for three days, changing the 
water every day. 

To Loosen a Glass Stopper.— The manner in which apotheca¬ 
ries loosen glass stoppers when there is difficulty in getting them out, is 
to press the thumb of the right hand very hard against the lower part of 
the stopper, and then give the stopper a twist the other way, with the 
thumb and forefinger of the left hand, keeping the bottle stiff in a steady 
position. 

To Make Shoes or Boots Water-Proof.— Melt together, m a 
pipkin, .equal quantities of beeswax and mutton suet. While liquid rub 
it over the leather, including the soles 

To Soften Boots and Shoes.— Kerosene will soften boots and shoes 
which have been hardened by water, and render them as pliable as new. 

To Remove Stains, Spots, and Mildew from Furniture.— 
Take half a pint of ninety-eight per cent, alcohol, a quarter of an ounce 


438 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


each of pulverized resin and gum shellac, add half a pint of linseed oil, 
shake well and apply with a brush or sponge. Sweet oil will remove 
finger marks from varnished furniture, and kerosene from oiled furniture. 

To Freshen Gilt Frames. —Gilt frames may be revived by care¬ 
fully dusting them, and then washing with one ounce of .soda beaten up 
with the whites of three eggs. Scraped patches should be touched up 
with gold paint. Castile soap and water, with proper care, may be used 
to clean oil paintings. Other methods should not be employed without 
some skill. 

To Fiee Cracks in Peaster. —Use vinegar instead of water to mix 
your plaster of Pa»is. The resultant mass will be like putty, and will 
not “set” for twenty or thirty minutes, whereas if you use water the 
plaster will become hard almost immediately, before you have time to 
use it. Push it into the cracks and smooth it off nicely with a tableknife 

To Toughen Lamp Chimneys and Geassware. —Immerse the 
article in a pot filled with cold water, to which some common salt has 
been added. Boil the water well, then cool slowly. Glass treated in 
this way will resist any sudden change of temperature. 

To Remove Paint from Window-Geass.—R ub it well with hot, 
sharp vinegar. 

To Clean Stovepipe. —A piece of zinc put on the live coals in the 
stove will clean out the stovepipe. 

To Brighten Carpets. —Carpets, after the dust has been beaten 
out, may be brightened by scattering upon them cornmeal mixed with 
salt and then sweeping it off. Mix salt and meal in equal proportions. 
Carpets should be thoroughly beaten on the wrong side first and then on 
the right side, after which spots may be removed by the use of ox-gall 
or ammonia and water. 

Kerosene Stains in Carpets may be removed by sprinkling 
buckwheat flour over the spot. If one sprinkling is not enough, repeat. 

To Keep Flowers Fresh exclude them from the air. To do this 
wet them thoroughly, put them in a damp box, and cover with wet raw 
cotton, or wet newspaper, then place in a cool spot. To preserve 
bouquets, put a little saltpetre in the water you use for your bouquets, 
and the flowers will live for a fortnight. 

To Preserve Brooms.— Dip them for a minute or two in a kettle 
of boiling suds once a week and they will last much longer, making them 
tough and pliable. A carpet wears much longer swept with a broom 
cared for in this manner. 

To Clean Brassware.— Mix 1 ounce of oxalic acid, 6 ounces 
of rotten stone, all in powder, 1 ounce of sweet oil, and sufficient 
water to make a paste. Apply a small proportion and rub dry with a 
flannel or leather. The liquid dip most generally used consists of nitric 
and sulphuric acids, but this is more corrosive. 

Polish or Enamel for Shirt Bosoms is made by melting together 
1 ounce of white wax and 2 ounces of spermaceti; heat gently and turn 
into a very shallow pan; when cold cut or break in pieces. When mak¬ 
ing boiled starch the usual way, enough for a dozen bosoms, add to it a 
piece of the polish the size of a hazel nut. 

To Keep Out Mosquitoes.— If a bottle of the oil of pennyroyal is 
left uncorked in a room at night, not a mosquito, nor any other blood¬ 
sucker, will be found there in the morning. 

Destruction of Rats.— The following recipe for the destruction 
originated with Dr. Ure, and is highly recommended as the best-known 


HEARTH AND HOME. 


439 


means of getting rid of these most obnoxious and destructive vermin. 
Melt hog’s lard in a bottle plunged in water, heated to about 150 de¬ 
grees of Fahrenheit, mix with it half an ounce of phosphorus for every 
pound of lard, then add a pint of proof spirit, or whisky, cork the bottle 
firmly after its contents have been heated to 150 degrees, taking it at the 
same time out of the water, and agitate smartly until the phosphorus 
becomes uniformly diffused, forming a milky looking liquid. This 
liquid, being cooled, will afford a white compound of phosphorus and 
lard, from which the spirit spontaneously separates, and may be poured 
off to be used again for the same purpose, but not for drinking, for none 
of it enters into the combination, but it merely serves to comminute the 
phosphorus, and diffuse it in very small particles through the lard. This 
compound, on being warmed very gently, may be poured out into a 
mixture of wheat flour and sugar, incorporated therewith, and then 
flavored with oil of rhodium, or not, at pleasure. The flavor may be 
varied with oil of aniseed, etc. This dough being made into pellets, is 
to be laid into rat holes. By its luminousness in the dark, it attracts 
their notice, and, being agreeable to their palates and noses, it is readily 
eaten, and proves certainly fatal. 

To Kii.iv Cockroaches. —A teacupful of well-bruised plaster of 
Paris, mixed with double the quantity of oatmeal, to which a little sugar 
may be added, although this last-named ingredient is not essential. 
Strew it on the floor or into the chinks where they frequent. 

Earwigs are very destructive insects, their favorite food being the 
petals of roses, pinks, dahlias and other flowers. They may be caught by 
driving stakes into the ground, and placing on each an inverted flower¬ 
pot, for the earwigs will climb up and take refuge under the pot, when 
they may be taken out and killed. Clean bowls of tobacco pipes, placed 
in like manner on the tops of smaller sticks, are very good traps, or very 
deep holes may be made in the ground with a crowbar, into which they 
will fall, and may be destroyed by boiling water. 

To Destroy Ants. —Drop some quicklime on the mouth of their nest, 
and wash it in with boiling water, or dissolve some camphor in spirits 
of wine, then mix with water, and pour into their haunts, or tobacco 
water, which has been found effectual. They are averse to strong scents. 
Camphor, or a sponge saturated with creosote, will prevent their infest¬ 
ing a cupboard. To prevent their climbing up trees, place a ring of tar 
about the trunk, or a circle of rag moistened occasionally with creo¬ 
sote. 

To PREVENT Moths.—I ll the month of April or May, beat your fur 
garments well with a small cane or elastic stick, then wrap them up in 
linen without pressing them too hard, and put betwixt the folds some 
camphor in small lumps; then put your furs in this state in boxes well 
closed. When the furs are wanted for use, beat them well as before, and 
expose them for twenty-four hours to the air, which will take away the 
smell of the camphor. If the fur has long hair, as bear or fox, add to 
the camphor an equal quantity of black pepper in powder. 

To Get Rid of Moths. 1. Procure shavings of cedar wood, and 
inclose in muslin bags, which can be distributed freely among the 

clothes. . 

2. Procure shavings of camphor wood, and inclose in bags. 

3. Sprinkle pimento (allspice) berries among the clothes. 

4. Sprinkle the clothes with the seeds of the musk plant. 

5. To destroy the eggs, when deposited in woolen cloths, etc., use a 


440 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


solution of acetate of potash in spirits of rosemary, fifteen grains to the 
pint. 

Bed Bugs. —Spirits of naphtha rubbed with a small painter’s brush 
into every part of the bedstead is a certain way of getting rid of bugs. 
The mattress and binding of the bed should be examined, and the same 
process attended to, as they generally harbor more in these parts than 
in the bedstead. Ten cents’ worth of naphtha is sufficient for one bed. 

Bug Poison. —Proof spirit, 1 pint; camphor, 2 ounces; oil of 
turpentine, 4 ounces; corrosive sublimate, 1 ounce. Mix. A corre¬ 
spondent says, * ‘ I have been for a long time troubled w T ith bugs, and 
never could get rid of them by any clean and expeditious method until 
a friend told me to suspend a small bag of camphor to the bed, just in 
the center, overhead. I did so, and the enemy was most effectually re¬ 
pulsed and has not made his appearance since- not even fora reconnois- 
sance!” This is a simple method of getting rid of these pests, and is 
worth a trial to see if it be effectual in other cases. 

Mixture for Destroying Feies. —Infusion of quassia, 1 pint; 
brown sugar, 4 ounces; ground pepper, 2 ounces. To be well mixed 
together, and put in small, shallow dishes when required. 

To Destroy Feies in a room, take half a teaspoonful of black pepper 
in powder, one teaspoonful of brown sugar, and 1 tablespoonful of 
cream, mix them well together, and place them in the room on a plate, 
where the flies are troublesome, and they will soon disappear. 

How To Destroy Insects. —The Bureau of Entomology, Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture, Washington, sends out the following, for use as in¬ 
secticides on or about plants, etc.: London purple—To twenty pounds 
flour from one-quarter to one-half pound is added and well mixed. This 
is applied with a sifter or blower. With forty gallons of water one- 
quarter to one-half pound is mixed for spraying. Paris green—With 
twenty pounds of flour from three-quarters to one pound is mixed and 
applied by sifting or by a blower. The same amount of the insecticide 
to forty gallons of water is used as a spray. Bisulphate of Carbon—For 
use in the ground a quantity is poured or injected among the roots that 
are being infected. Against insects damaging stored grain or museum 
material a small quantity is used in an air-tight vessel. Carbolic acid— 
A solution of 1 part in 100 of water is used against parasites on domestic 
animals and their barns and sheds; al§o on the surface of plants and 
among the roots in the ground. Hellebore—The powder is sifted on alone 
or mixed one part to twenty of flour. With one gallon of water one- 
quarter pound is mixed for spraying. Kerosene-Milk Emulsion—To 
one part milk add two parts kerosene, and churn by force-pump or other 
agitator. The butter-like emulsion is diluted ad libitum with water. An 
easier method is to simply mix 1 part kerosene with 8 of milk. Soap 
Emulsion—In one gallon hot water one-half pound whale oil soap is dis¬ 
solved. This, instead of milk, is mixed to an emulsion with kerosene in 
the same manner and proportion as above. Pyrethrum, Persian Insect 
powder—Is blown or sifted on dry, also applied in water one gallon to 
a tablespoonful of the powder, well stirred and then sprayed. Tobacco 
Decoction—This is made as strong as possible as a wash or spray to kill 
insect pests on animals and plants. 


HEARTH AND HOME. 


441 


ACCIDENTS AND INJURIES. 

Priceless Generae RueES. —If an artery is cut, red blood spurts. 
Compress it above the wound. If a vein is cut, dark blood flows. Com¬ 
press it below and above. 

If choked, go upon all fours and cough. 

For slight burns, dip the part in cold water; if the skin is destroyed, 
cover with varnish or linseed oil. 

For apoplexy, raise the head and body; for fainting, lay the person 

flat. 

Send for a physician when a serious accident of any kind occurs, but 
treat as directed until he arrives. 

Scaeds AND Burns.— The following facts cannot be too firmly im¬ 
pressed on the mind of the reader, that in either of these accidents the 
first , best and often the only remedies required , are sheets of wadding, 
fine wool, or carded cotton, and in the default of these, violet powder, 
flour, magnesia, or chalk. The object for which these several articles are 
employed is the same in each instance; namely, to exclude the air from 
the injured part; for if the air can be effectually shut out from the raw 
surface, and care is taken not to expose the tender part till the new cuti¬ 
cle is formed, the cure may be safely left to nature. The moment a per¬ 
son is called to a case of scald or burn, he should cover the part with a 
sheet, or a portion of a sheet, of wadding, taking care not to break any 
blister that may have formed, or stay to remove any burnt clothes that 
may adhere to the surface, but as quickly as possible envelop every part 
of the injury from all access of the air, laying one or two more pieces of 
wadding on the first, so as effectually to guard the burn or scald from the 
irritation of the atmosphere; and if the article used is wool or cotton, the 
same precaution, of adding more material where the surface is thinly 
covered, must be adopted; a light bandage finally securing all in their 
places. Any of the popular remedies recommended below may be em¬ 
ployed when neither wool, cotton nor wadding are to be procured, it 
being always remembered that that article which will best exclude the 
air from a burn or scald is the best, quickest, and least painful mode of 
treatment. And in this respect nothing has surpassed cotton loose or 
attached to paper as in wadding. 

If the skin is much injured in burns, spread some linen pretty 
thickly with chalk ointment, and lay over the part, and give the patient 
some brandy and water if much exhausted; then send fora medical man. 
If not much injured, and very painful, use the same ointment, or apply 
carded cotton dipped in lime water and linseed oil. If you please, you 
may lay cloths dipped in either over the parts, or cold lotions. Treat 
scalds in same manner, or cover with scraped raw potato; but the chalk 
ointment is the best. In the absence of all these, cover the injured part 
with treacle, and dust over it plenty of flour. 

Body in Frames.—L ay the person down on the floor of the room, 
and throw the table cloth, rug, or other large cloth over him, and roll 
him on the floor. 

Dirt in THE Eye. —Place your forefinger upon the cheek-bone, 
having the patient before you; then slightly bend the finger; this will 
draw down the lower lid of the eye, and you will probably be able to 
remove the dirt; but if this will not enable you to get at it, repeat this 
operation while you have a netting-needle or bodkin placed over the eye¬ 
lid; this will turn it inside out, and enable you to remove the sand or 


442 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


eyelash, etc., with the corner of a fine.silk handkerchief. As soon as the 
substance is removed, bathe the eye with cold water, and exclude the 
light for a day. If the inflammation is severe, let the patient use a refrig¬ 
erant lotion. 

Dime in THE Eye. —Syringe it well with warm vinegar and 'water 
in the proportion of one ounce of vinegar to eight ounces of water; ex¬ 
clude light. 

Iron or STEEE Spicue^E in the Eye. —These occur while turning 
iron or steel in a lathe, and are best remedied by doubling back the 
upper or lower eyelid, according to the situation of the substance, and 
with the flat edge of a silver probe, taking up the metallic particle, using 
a lotion made by dissolving six grains of sugar of lead and the same of 
white vitriol, in six ounces of water, and bathing the eye three times a 
day till the inflammation subsides. Another plan is—Drop a solution of 
sulphate of copper (from one to three grains of the salt to one ounce of 
water) into the eye, or keep the eye open in a wineglassful of the solu¬ 
tion. Bathe with cold lotion, and exclude light to keep down inflam¬ 
mation. 

DiseocaTED Thumb. —This is frequently produced by a fall. Make 
a clove hitch, by passing two loops of cord over the thumb, placing a 
piece of rag under the cord to prevent it cutting the thumb; then pull in 
the same line as the thumb. Afterwards apply a cold lotion. 

Cuts and Wounds. —Clean cut wounds, whether deep or superficial, 
and likely to heal by the first intention, should always be washed or 
cleaned, and at once evenly and smoothly closed by bringing both edges 
close together, and securing them in that position by adhesive plaster. 
Cut thin strips of sticking plaster, 'and bring, the parts together; or if 
large and deep, cut two broad pieces, so as to look like the teeth of a 
comb, and place one on each side of the wound, which must be cleaned 
previously. These pieces must be arranged so that they shall interlace 
one another; then, by laying hold of the pieces on the right side with 
one hand, and those on the other side with the other hand, and pulling 
them from one another, the edges of the wound are brought together 
without any difficulty. 

Ordinary cuts are dressed by thin strips, applied by pressing down 
the plaster on one side of the wound, and keeping it there and pulling 
in the opposite direction; then suddenly depressing the hand when the 
edges of the wound are brought together. 

Contusions are best healed by laying a piece of folded lint, well 
wetted with extract of lead, or boracic acid, on the part, and, if there is 
much pain, placing a hot bran poultice over the dressing, repeating both 
if necessary, every two hours. When the injuries are very severe, lay 
a cloth over the part, and suspend a basin over it filled with cold lotion. 
Put a piece of cotton into the basin, so that it shall allow the lotion to 
drop on the cloth, and thus keep it always wet. 

Hemorrhage, when caused by an artery being divided or torn, may 
be known by the blood issuing out of the w r ound in leaps or jerks, and 
being of bright scarlet color. If a vein is injured, the blood is darker 
and flows continuously. To arrest the latter, apply pressure by means 
of a compress and bandage. To arrest arterial bleeding, get a piece of 
wood (part of a broom handle will do), and tie a piece of tape to one end 
of it; then tie a piece of tape loosely over the arm, and pass the other end 
of the wood under it; twist the stick round and round until the tape 
compresses the arm sufficiently to arrest the bleeding, and then confine 


HEARTH AND HOME . 


443 


the other end by tying the string around the arm. A compress made by 
enfolding a penny piece in several folds of lint or linen should, however, 
be first placed under the tape and over the artery. If the bleeding is 
very obstinate, and it occurs in the arm , place a cork underneath the 
string, on the inside of the fleshy part, where the artery may be felt 
beating by any one; if in the leg , place a cork in the direction of a line 
drawn from the inner part of the knee towards the outer part of the groin. 
It is an excellent thing to accustom yourself to find out the position of 
these arteries, or, indeed, any that are superficial, and to explain to 
every person in your house where they are, and how to stop bleeding. 
II a stick cannot be got, take a handkerchief, make a cord bandage of 
it, and tie a knot in the middle; the knot acts as a compress, and should 
be placed over the artery, while the two ends are to be tied around the 
thumb. Observe always to place the ligature between the wound and 
the heart. Putting your finger into a bleeding wound, and making pres¬ 
sure until a surgeon arrives, will generally stop violent bleeding. 

Breeding from THE Nose, from whatever cause, may generally be 
stopped by putting a plug of lint into the nostrils; if this does not do, 
apply a cold lotion to the forehead; raise the head, and place over it both 
arms, so that it will rest on the hands; dip the lint plug, slightly moist¬ 
ened , into some powdered gum arabic, and plug the nostrils again; or 
dip the plug into equal parts of powdered gum arabic and alum and 
plug the nose. Or the plug may be dipped in Friar’s balsam, or tinc¬ 
ture of kino. Heat should be applied to the feet; and, in obstinate cases, 
the sudden shock of a cold key, or cold water poured down the spine, 
will often instantly stop the bleeding. If the bowels are confined, take 
a purgative. Injections of alum solution from a small syringe into the 
nose will often stop hemorrhage. 

VioeEnT Shocks will sometimes stun a person, and he will remain un¬ 
conscious. Untie strings, collars, etc.; loosen anything that is tight, and 
interferes with the breathing; raise the head; see if there is bleeding from 
any part; apply smelling-salts to the nose, and hot bottles to the feet. 

In Concussion, the surface of the body is cold and pale, and the 
pulse weak and small, the breathing slow and gentle, and the pupil of 
the eye generally contracted or small. You can get an answer by speak¬ 
ing loud, so as to arouse the patient. Give a little brandy and water, 
keep the place quiet, apply warmth, and do not raise the head too high. 
If you tickle the feet the patient feels it. 

In Compression of the Brain from any cause, such as apoplexy, 
or a piece of fractured bone pressing it, there is loss of sensation. If 
you tickle the feet of the injured person he does not feel it. You cannot 
arouse him so as to get an answer. The pulse is slow and labored; the 
breathing deep, labored, and snorting ; the pupil enlarged. Raise the 
head, loosen strings or tight things, and send for a surgeon. If one can¬ 
not be got at once, apply mustard poultices to the feet and thighs, leeches 
to the temples, and hot water to the feet. 

Choking. —When a person has a fish bone in the throat, insert the 
forefinger, press upon the root of the tongue, so as to induce vomiting; 
if this does not do, let him swallow a large piece of potato or soft bread; 
and if these fail, give a mustard emetic. 

Fainting, Hysterics, ETC;— Loosen the garments, bathe the temp¬ 
les with water, or eau-de-Cologne; open the window, admit plenty of 
fresh air, dash cold water on the face, apply hot bricks to the feet, and 
avoid bustle and excessive sympathy. 


444 


MANUAL OF USEFUL IN FORM A TION. 


Drowning. —Attend to the following essential rules'. —1. Lose no 
time. 2. Handle the body gently. 3. Carry the body face downwards, 
with the head gently raised, and never hold it up by the feet. 4. Send 
for medical assistance immediately, and in the meantime act as follows: 
5. Strip the body; rub it dry, then wrap it in hot blankets, and place it 
in a warm bed in a warm room. 6. Cleanse away the froth and mucus 
from the nose and mouth. 7. Apply warm bricks, bottles, bags of sand, 
etc., to the armpits, between the thighs, and to the soles of the feet. 8. 
Rub the surface of the body with the hands inclosed in warm, dry 
worsted socks. 9. If possible, put the body into a warm bath. 10. To 
restore breathing, put the pipe of a common bellows into one nostril, 
carefully closing the other, and the mouth; at the same time drawing 
downwards, and pushing gently backwards, the upper part of the wind¬ 
pipe, to allow a more free admission of air; blow the bellows gently, in 
order to inflate the lungs, till the breast be raised a little; then set the 
mouth and nostrils free, and press gently on the chest; repeat this until 
signs of life appear. The body should be covered the moment it is placed 
on the table, except the face, and all the rubbing carried on under the 
sheet or blanket. When they can be obtained, a number of tiles or 
bricks should be made tolerably hot in the fire, laid in a row on the 
table, covered with a blanket, and the body placed in such a manner 
on them that their heat may enter the spine. When the patient revives, 
apply smelling-salts to the nose, give warm wine or brandy and water. 
Cautions: —1. Never rub the body with salt or spirits. 2. Never roll the 
body on casks. 3. Continue the remedies for twelve hours without ceas¬ 
ing. 

Hanging. —Loosen the cord, or whatever it may be by which the 
person has been suspended. Open the temporal artery or jugular vein, 
or bleed from the arm; employ electricity, if at hand, and proceed as for 
drowning, taking the additional precaution to apply eight or ten leeches 
to the temples. 

Apparent Death from Drunkenness —Raise the head; loosen 
the clothes, maintain warmth of surface, and give a mustard emetic as 
soon as the person can swallow. 

Apopkexy and Fits Generaeey.— Raise the head; loosen all tight 
clothes, strings, etc.; apply cold lotions to the head, which should be 
shaved; apply leeches to the temples, bleed and send for a surgeon. 

Suffocation from Noxious Gases, etc.— Remove to the fresh 
air; dash cold vinegar and water in the face, neck and breast; keep up 
the warmth of the body; if necessary, apply mustard poultices to the 
soles of the feet and to the spine, and try artificial respirations as in 
drowning, with electricity. 

Lightning and Sunstroke —Treat the same as apoplexy. 
ANTIDOTES FOR POISONS. 

Always send immediately for a medical men. Save all fluids vomited, 
and articles of food, cups, glasses, etc., used by the patient before taken 
ill, and lock them up. This precaution frequently leads to the detection 
of crime. 

As a rule, give emetics after poisons that cause sleepiness and ravings: 
chalk, milk, eggs, butter, and warm water, or oil, after poisons that 
cause vomiting and pain in the stomach and bowels, with purging; and 
when there is no inflammation about the throat, tickle it with a feather 
to excite vomiting. 



HEARTH AND HOME. 


445 


Vomiting may be caused by giving warm water, with a teaspoonful 
of mustard to the tumblerful, well stirred up. Sulphate of zinc (with 
vitriol) may be used in place of the mustard, or powdered alum. Pow T der 
of ipecacuanha, a teaspoonful rubbed up with molasses, may be em¬ 
ployed for children. Tartar emetic should never be given, as it is ex¬ 
cessively depressing, and uncontrollable in its effects. The stomach pump 
can only be used by skillful hands, and even then with caution. 

In opium and other narcotics, after vomiting has occurred, cold water should be 
dashed over the face and head. The patient must be kept awake, walked about be¬ 
tween two strong persons, made to grasp the handles of a galvanic battery, dosed with 
strong coffee, and vigorously slapped. Belladonna is an antidote for opium and for 
morphia, etc., its active principle; and, on the other hand, the latter counteract the 
effects of belladonna. But a knowledge of medicines is necessary for dealing with 
these articles. 

In the case of strychnia, after emetics have been freely and successfully given, the 
patient should be allowed to breathe the vapor of sulphuric ether, poured on a hand- 
erchief and held to the face, in such quantities as to keep down the tendency to con¬ 
vulsions. Bromide of potassium, twenty grains to a dose, dissolved in syrup, may be 
given every hour. 

Alcoholic poisoning should be combated by emetics, of which the sulphate of zinc, 
given as above directed, is the best. After that, strong coffee internally, and stimula¬ 
tion by heat externally, should be used. 

Acids are sometimes swallowed by mistake. Alkalies, lime water, magnesia, or 
common chalk mixed with water, may be freely given, and afterward mucilaginous 
rinks, such as thick gum water or flaxseed tea. 

Alkalies are less frequently taken in injurious strength or quantity, but sometimes 
children swallow lve by mistake. Common vinegar may be given freely, and then 
castor or sweet oil in full doses—a tablespoouful at a time, repeated every half hour or 
two. 

Nitrate of silver when swallowed is neutraitzed by common table salt freely given 
in solution in water. 


HOW TO CARVE AT TABLE. 

We propose to give here a few rules upon the practice of carving, 
which may be of benefit to the tyro, and help him to acquire that ease 
and dexterity which is so conducive to peace and comfort around the 
family board: 

In carving a sirloin of beef, the upper cuts should be made length¬ 
wise of the beef, while the under cuts are crosswise—the undercuts being 
also much thicker than the upper cuts. As there is much difference of 
opinion as to which is the choicest piece, it is best for the carver to ask 
his guests which cut they prefer. 

Rib roasts, rolled, and a round of beef are always cut in very thin 
horizontal slices across the whole surface of the meat. It is essential, 
though, that these slices be quite thin. 

The leg, the loin, the shoulder and the saddle are the four pieces of 
mutton usually brought to the table to be carved. First, as to the leg: 
This must be placed on the table with the knuckle to the left hand. Then 
cut into the side farthest from you toward the bone, helping thin slices 
from the right and thick slices toward the knuckle. Always divide the 
little bunch of fat near the thick end among your guests, as it is a great 
delicacy. 

A saddle of mutton is often ordered for a small dinner party. It is 
cut in very thin slices, close to the back-bone, and then downward. 

Place a “shoulder” with the knuckle toward the right hand, the 
blade bone toward the left. Place your fork firmly in the middle of the 
edge farthest from you, and cut dexterously from the edge to the bone. 
This causes the meat to fly open, when you can cut slices on each side of 
the opening, until there is no more to cut, when the meat should be 



446 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


turned over and slices cut from the under side. Another method of 
carving this joint is to cut slices lengthwise from the end to the knuckle. 

The loin of mutton, which is a piece intended specially for family 
use, should be carved either through the joints or may be cut lengthwise 
in a parallel line with the joints. 

A fillet of veal is, in shape and appearance, very similar to a round 
of beef, and is carved in the same way by cutting horizontal slices over 
the whole surface of the meat. The slices, however, should not be nearly 
so thin as beef. A fillet of veal is cut from the leg, the bone is removed 
by the butcher, and the pocket thus made is filled with dressing, which 
is taken out and helptd with a spoon by the carver. 

A breast of veal may be either roasted or stewed. If used as a roast¬ 
ing piece, you will have the butcher make an opening or hole in it for 
the reception of the dressing. In carving it, the ribs may be separated 
from the brisket, and sent round. 

A fore-quarter of lamb consists of shoulder, breast and ribs. The 
knife must be first placed upon the shoulder, drawn through horizontally, 
and the joint removed and placed upon another dish. The ribs can then 
be separated, and the breast sliced and sent around. 

A calf’s head, which is by some considered a delicacy, must be cut 
down the center in thin slices on each side. A small piece of the palate, 
of the sweet-bread, and of the meat around the eye, must be put on 
each plate and sent round. 

In carving a haunch of venison, make a cut across close to knuckle, 
after which cut slices by making straight incisions lengthwise. 

There are three methods allowed in carving a ham: The most com¬ 
mon one probably is to cut it like a leg of mutton.begiuning in the mid¬ 
dle, and cutting either way. You may, however, begin at the knuckle, 
cutting slices in a slanting direction, or you may begin at the thick end. 
The slices must always be as thin and delicate as possible, and are the 
usual accompaniment to fowl or veal. 

Tongue must always be cut in thin, regular slices. Make the first 
a short distance from the tip, where a slice of some size may be attained. 
The tip is considered quite a tid-bit by some people. 

In carving a chicken, first cut off the wings. This is easily done by 
learning where to strike the joint. Then slice the breast, and cut off 
the merry-thought and side bones; The breast should always be helped 
first, then the wings—the liver wing being the better of the two. It is 
better to always reserve a small slice of the white meat to be served with 
the dark. 

Pigeon, snipe and quail are cut in half, and a piece sent to each 
guest. When the birds are small, you send a whole one. 

Goose and turkey are helped by cutting slices off the breast, and 
then the wings and legs are removed. The breast is considered the best 
meat, and after that the wings. 

Boiled rabbit is carved thus: First cut off the legs; then take out 
the shoulders with a sharp-pointed knife, then break the back into three 
or four pieces at the joint. The back is the choice help, especially the 
piece in the center. The shoulder is next in order after the back, and 
the leg comes last. The kidney is a delicate bit. 

For cutting fish a regular silver fish-slice is provided. Salmon and 
all fish of that order are cut in slices down the middle of the upper side, 
and then in slices across on the under side. A piece of each should be 
helped to all. 


HEARTH AND HOME . 


447 


Mackerel divides among four people. Pass fish-knife between the 
upper and under half from head to tail, then halve each side, and help 
to a quarter. 

Cut cod cross'wise like salmon, then downward, and send a small 
piece round on each plate as well. 

Large flat fish, as turbot, flounders, John Dorey, etc., are first cut 
down the middle from head to tail, then across to the fin, in slices. The 
fin, being considered a delicacy by some, should be helped, too. 

Small fish, like smelts, whiting, etc., are sent whole to each guest. 


CONDUCT AT TABLE. 

Seat yourself in an upright position—not too close to nor yet too 
far from the table. 

Take your napkin, partially unfold it and lay it across your lap. It 
is not the correct thing to fasten it to your button-hole or spread it over 
your breast. 

Do not trifle with your knife or fork, or drum on the table, or fidget 
in any way, while waiting to be served. 

Keep your hands quietly in your lap, your mind composed and pleas¬ 
antly fixed upon the conversation. Let all your movements be easy and 
deliberate. Undue haste indicates a nervous lack of ease. 

Should grace be said, you will give the most reverent attention in 
respectful silence during the ceremony. 

Exhibit no impatience to be served. During the intervals between 
the courses is your opportunity for displaying your conversational abilities 
to those sitting near you. Pleasant chat and witty remarks compose the 
best possible sauce to a good dinner. 

Eat slowdy; it will contribute to your good health as well as your 
good manners. Thorough mastication of your food is necessary to di¬ 
gestion. An ordinary meal should occupy from thirty minutes to an 
hour. 

You may not desire the soup, which is usually the first course, but 
you should not refuse to take it. You can eat as much or as little as you 
please, but you would look awkward sitting with nothing before you 
while the others are eating. 

When eating soup, take it from the side of the spoon, and avoid mak¬ 
ing any noise in so doing. 

Should you be asked by the host what part of the fowl you prefer, 
always have a choice, and mention promptly which you prefer. Nothing 
is more annoying than to have to serve two or three people who have no 
preferences and will take “anything.” 

Never place waste matter on the table-cloth. The side of your plate 
or side-dishes that have contained sauces or vegetables, will answer as a 
receptacle for bones, potato skins, etc. 

You will use your fork to convey all your food to your mouth, except 
it may be certain sauces that would be more conveniently eaten with a 
spoon. For instance, you should not attempt to eat peas with a fork. If 
you are not provided with a spoon, ask for one. 

The knife is used only for cutting meat and other articles of food, for 
spreading butter upon the bread, etc. 

Here is the summary of blunders to avoid: 

Do not eat fast. 

Do not make noise with mouth or throat. 



448 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


Do not fill the mouth too full. 

Do not open the mouth in masticating 

Do not leave the table with food in your mouth. 

Be careful to avoid soiling the cloth. 

Never carry anything like food with you from the table. 

Never apologize to the waiters for making them trouble; it is their 
business to serve you. It is proper, however, to treat them with courtesy, 
and say “No, I thank you,” or “If you please” in answer to their in¬ 
quiries. 

Do not introduce disgusting or unpleasant topics of conversation. 

Do not pick your teeth or put your finger in your mouth at the table. 

Do not come to table in your shirt sleeves, or with soiled hands or 
tousled hair. 

Do not cut your bread; break it. 

Do not refuse to take the last piece of bread or cake; it looks as though 
you imagined there might be no more. 

Do not express a preference for any part of a dish unless asked to do 
so. 


GEORGE WASHINGTON’S RULES OF, CONDUCT. 

Let your discourse with men of business be short and comprehen¬ 
sive. 

In visiting the sick do not presently play the physician. 

In the presence of others sing not to yourself with a humming noise, 
nor drum with your fingers or feet. 

Read no letters, books or papers in company. 

Come not near the book or writings of any one so as to read them, 
unless desired. 

Let your countenance be pleasant, but in serious matters somewhat 
grave. 

Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of another, even though 
he were your enemy. 

Strive not with your superiors in argument, but always submit your 
judgment to others with modesty. 

When a man does all he can, though it succeeds not well, blame not 
him that did it. 

Mock not, nor jest at anything of importance; break no jests that are 
sharp-biting, and if you deliver anything witty and pleasant, abstain from 
laughing thereat yourself. 

Use no reproachful language against any one, neither curse nor 
revile. 

Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own 
reputation. 

Be not immodest in urging your friend to discover a secret. 

Speak not of doleful things in time of mirth, nor at the table. 

Break not a jest where none takes pleasure in mirth. 

Laugh not loud, nor at all without occasion. 

Treat with men at fit times about business. 

Whisper not in the company of others. 

Make no comparisons, and if any of the company be commended 
for any brave act, commend not another for the same. 

Be not curious to know the affairs of others, neither approach to 
those that speak in private. 



HEARTH AND HOME. 


449 


Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be careful to keep your 
promise. 

Be not tedious in discourse. 

Speak not evil of the absent, for it is unjust. 

Let your recreations be manful, not sinful. 


CARE OF THE PERSON. 

Cleanliness is the outward sign of inward purity. Cleanliness is 
health, and health is beauty. 

The first business of the dressing-room is the bath, and this should 
be a complete bath, and not simply a hasty washing of the face. It is 
not to be supposed that a lady washes to become clean, but simply to 
remain clean. A bathing of the entire body at least once a day is essen¬ 
tial to health. It is not necessary to have a bath tub for this purpose, 
but merely an ordinary basin of tepid water, with soap, sponge and 
clean towels. 

The whole body may be quickly sponged off, or the sponge may be 
dispensed with, and the hands alone used to convey the water to the 
body, after which dry the body thoroughly with a soft towel, and then 
use a coarse Turkish towel vigorously until the skin is red from the fric¬ 
tion. In lieu of the coarse towel, a liberal use of the flesh-brush may be 
made, but either one or both must be regularly used, as nothing tends 
to keep the complexion in good condition so much as the daily use of 
the flesh-brush. 

Persons living in cities where Turkish baths are established will find 
a bath of this kind once a week very beneficial to their health. Oftener 
than this the baths would be apt to have an enervating effect. But an 
occasional Turkish bath is the most effectual cleanser in the world. 

Early rising contributes not only to the preservation of health,but the 
proper condition of the mental faculties. Too much sleep induces minor 
ailments both of the body and mind. Fresh air, moderate exercise and 
good ventilation, together with the daily bath, are the great health- 
preservers. 

The Teeth. —Scrupulous care is necessary to the preservation of the 
teeth. The teeth should be carefully brushed, not only every night and 
morning, but after every meal. 

The best and only needful tooth powder is a simple preparation of 
chalk. The numerous dentifrices advertised are most of them worthless, 
and many of them positively injurious. 

A good tooth-brush, not too stiff, is necessary. Very hot and very 
cold things, and a great deal of sweets are injurious to the teeth. 

Upon the first indication of decay, a good dentist should be consulted; 
cheap dentistry is bad economy. 

The Breath. —It goes without saying that a sweet breath is one of 
the essentials of happiness, and should therefore be carefully looked to. 
The principal causes of a bad breath are a disordered stomach, decaying 
teeth and catarrhal affections. In the latter case a good specialist should 
be consulted. When it arises from digestive difficulty, the diet should 
be changed to one better suited to the system. 

The eating of anything that will give an unpleasant odor to the breath 
is to be avoided. 

The Naies.—M uch care and attention is given to the nails by those 
who are particular in matters of the toilet. Of late years the care of the 
U. I.—29 



450 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


nails has been elevated to a profession, and persons calling themselves 
“manicures” make it their business to dress the nails of ladies of 
fashion. 

It is sufficient, however, if you keep the nails carefully and evenly 
trimmed—great care, however, being required to preserve the correct 
shape, and keep all superfluous skin entirely removed. Plenty of warm 
water, Windsor soap and a nail brush are all that is required to keep the 
hands in good condition. 

The Hair. —The hair should be regularly brushed, morning and 
evening, with a clean flair brush. It is important that the brushing be 
frequent; it is also important that the brush be quite clean. 

The brush should be washed every day with hot water and soda, in 
order to preserve a glossy appearance to the hair. Occasionally the hair 
may be cleaned with a mixture of glycerine and lime juice. Pomades and 
oil should be carefully avoided. 

Never attempt to change the color of your hair by means of dyes and 
fluids. Your own hair, as nature colored it, is apt to be the only shade 
that will correspond with your eyes, eyebrows and complexion. Practices 
of this kind are much to be condemned. They indicate a senseless de¬ 
sire for fashion, and an equally unladylike desire to attract attention. 
The use of hair dyes, false hair, etc., is almost as much to be condemned 
as painted cheeks and penciled brows. 

The Complexion. —As to the art of obtaining a good complexion, 
all the recipes in the world can have but little effect compared with the 
effects of early rising, regular habits, careful diet and absolute cleanli¬ 
ness. The various lotions recommended by Madame-and others 

of her ilk, the milk bath, pearl powders and washes of every kind, would 
never be needed if ladies were always careful to take plenty of exercise 
in the open air, wear broad brimmed hats in the sun, and veils in 
the wind. 

The face should never be washed when heated from exercise. Wipe 
the perspiration from the skin, and wait until it is sufficiently cool 
before you bathe even in warm water. Rain water is the best for 
bathing purposes. If an eruption break out on the skin, consult a 
physician. 

ETIQUETTE OF THE STREET. 

A lady will bow first if she meets a gentleman acquaintance on the 
street. 

A lady will not stop on the street to converse with a gentleman. If 
he wdshes to chat with her he will turn and walk by her side until he 
has finished his conversation, then raise his hat and leave her. 

It is not etiquette for a lady to take the arm of a gentleman on the 
street in the day time, unless he be a lover or a husband, and even then 
it is seldom done in America. 

In England it is permissible for a lady to accept the arm of even an 
ordinary acquaintance on the street. In foreign cities it is not comme 
il faut for ladies to appear on the street at all without a gentleman. 

A gentleman escorting two ladies may offer each an arm, but a lady 
should never under any circumstances walk between two gentlemen hold¬ 
ing an arm of each. 

On meeting friends or acquaintances on the street or in public places, 
you should be careful not to call their names so loudly as to attract the 
attention of those around. 




HEARTH AND HOME. 


451 


Never call across the street, and never carry on a conversation in a pub¬ 
lic vehicle unless you are seated side by side. 

Gentlemen should never stare at ladies on the street. 

In walking with a lady a gentleman should take charge of any 
small parcel, book, etc., with which she may be burdened. 

Never recognize a gentleman unless you are perfectly sure of his 
identity. Nothing is more awkward than a mistake of this kind. 

A well-bred man must entertain no respect for the brim of his hat. 
True politeness demands that the hat be removed entirely from the head. 
Merely to nod or to touch the brim of your hat is a lack of courtesy. The 
body should not be bent at all in bowing. 

A gentleman will always give a lady the inside of the walk on the 
street. 

Ladies should avoid walking rapidly on the street, as it is un¬ 
graceful. 

A gentleman walking with a lady should accommodate his step to 
hers. It looks exceedingly awkward to see a gentleman two or three 
paces ahead of a lady with whom he is supposed to be walking. 

Staring at people, expectorating, looking back on the street, calling 
in a loud voice, laughing, etc., are very bad manners on the street. 

A gentleman attending a lady will hold the door open for her to 
pass. He will also perform the same service for any lady passing in or 
out unattended. 

A gentleman may assist a lady from an omnibus, or over a bad cross¬ 
ing, without the formality of an introduction. Having performed the 
service, he will bow and retire. 

No gentleman will smoke when standing or walking with a lady 
on the street. 

A quiet and unobtrusive demeanor upon the street is the sign of a 
true lady, who goes about her own affairs in a business-like way, and has 
always a pleasant nod and smile for friends and acquaintances. 


HINTS ON TRAVELING. 

Consider what route you intend taking when you are contemplating 
a journey, and decide definitely upon it. Go to the ticket office of the 
road and procure a time-table, where you will find the hour for leaving, 
together with names of stations on the road, etc. 

When you intend taking a sleeping-berth, secure your ticket for 
same a day or two before you intend starting, so as to obtain a desirable 
location. A lower berth in the center of the car is always the most com¬ 
fortable, as you escape the jar of the wheels and drafts from the opening 
door. 

Take as little baggage as possible, and see that your trunks are 
strong and securely fastened. A good, stout leather strap is a safeguard 
against bursting locks. 

In checking your baggage, look to the checks yourself, to make 
sure the numbers correspond. Having once received your check, you 
need not concern yourself further about your baggage. The company 
is responsible for its safe delivery 

It is a wise precaution to have your name and address carefully 
written upon any small article of baggage, such as satchel, umbrella, 
duster, etc., so that in case you leave them in the car the railway em¬ 
ployes may know where to send them. 



452 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


An overcoat oi package lying upon a seat is an indication that the 
seat is taken and the owner has only left temporarily. It would there¬ 
fore be rude in you to remove the articles and occupy the seat. 

It is only courteous for a gentleman, seeing a lady looking for a seat, 
to offer the one beside him, as she scarcely likes to seat herself beside 
him without such invitation, although she will, of course, if there are no 
entirely vacant seats, do so in preference to standing. 

A courteous gentleman will also relinquish his place to two ladies, 
or a gentleman and lady who are together, and seek other accommoda¬ 
tions. Such a sacrifice always receives its reward in grateful admiration 
of his character. 

Ladies traveling alone, when addressed in a courteous manner by 
gentlemen, should reply politely to the remark; and in long journeys 
it is even allowable to enter into conversation without the formality of 
an introduction. But a true lady will always know how to keep the con¬ 
versation from bordering on familiarity, and by a quiet dignity and sudden 
hauteur will effectually check any attempt at presumption on the part 
of her strange acquaintance. 

Always consult the comfort of others when traveling. You should 
not open either door or window in a railway coach without first ascer¬ 
taining if it will be agreeable to those near enough to be affected by it. 
Ladies, in particular, should remember that they have not chartered the 
whole coach, but only paid for a small fraction of it, and be careful not 
to monopolize the dressing room for two or three hours at a stretch, 
while half a dozen or more are waiting outside to arrange their toilets. 

Genteel travelers will always carry their own toilet articles, and not 
depend on the public brush and comb. 

A lady will avoid over-dressing in traveling. Silks and velvets, laces 
and jew r elry are terribly out of place on a railroad train. The appoint¬ 
ments of the traveler may be as elegant as you please, but they should 
be distinguished by exceeding plainness and quietness of tone. Some 
ladies have an idea that any old thing is good enough to travel in, and 
so look exceedingly shabby on the train. 

SUCCESS AND ITS SECRETS 

While it is impossible, in a world made up of widely differing indi¬ 
viduals, to formulate a set of rules by which each could be shown the 
surest and swiftest way to secure success in life, still it is possible to call 
attention to certain qualities of mind and character whose possession has 
come to be universally looked upon as essential to those who may aspire 
to struggle into the front rank of the world’s workers. As a matter of 
fact, it would be as difficult to define the common expression “ success 
in life” as it would be to lay down a royal road which leads to it. Given 
a hundred definitions, from as many men, each treating the subject from 
his own standpoint, and no two of them would be found alike; and the 
opinion of each of these, as time passed along with its inevitable ups 
and downs, would be found to vary considerably. Flushed with recent 
success, the speculator to-day would see in the possession of millions and 
in the control of vast interests the only proper goal for a man of his great 
genius; tamed a few days later by unexpected reverses, and he sees in 
some conservative enterprise the fittest sphere of his future usefulness. 
Perhaps, then, without attempting the impossible, in a definition of suc¬ 
cess in life which will fit all who are seeking it, it will do to look upon it 
as the accomplishment of the laudable life-purpose of a man of natural 



HEARTH AND HOME. 


453 


or cultivated parts, who has found an object in life worth living and 
working for, and has worked honestly and perseveringly to attain it. 
As a rule, the larger the endowment of those faculties which go to build 
up success in life, the higher the aim which accompanies them; but it 
must not be forgotten that man is the most cultivable of all God’s creat¬ 
ures, and that by careful and intelligent study of the qualities which 
have enabled others to shine, one may acquire them and employ them in 
building up similar accomplishments. This being so, it does not lie in 
the power of the young man who feels that he possesses only a moderate 
share of intelligence, force and ability, to decide, on this account, that 
he is not called upon to make fight for one of the front places in the life 
of this generation. The most brilliant lives have often been those of men 
of ordinary gifts, who, exerting to the utmost such power as has been 
given them, have accomplished more than hundreds of men who were 
much more bountifully supplied with mental qualifications. If any man 
look among the circle of his acquaintances he will be surprised to see 
how few have made the voyage of life successfully, and sorrow cannot 
but arise when he considers the impotent conclusions to which young 
men of brilliant parts frequently come. Every day witnesses the tri¬ 
umph of patient and studious mediocrity, and men of great intellect are 
constantly being forced to acknowledge, with surprise, the success of 
persons whose abilities, in comparison with their own, have been deemed 
inconsiderable. These men know precisely the scope of their faculties, 
and never wander beyond them. They wait patiently for opportunities 
which are of the kind they can improve, and they never let one pass un¬ 
improved. Being unnoticed, they excite so much the less opposition, 
and at last they surprise the world by the attainment of an object which 
others deemed as far away from their ambition as it seemed beyond their 
reach. 

HOW TO AVOID FAILURE. 

It is a common thing, with both the brilliant and the mediocre, when 
the reward of their exertions and the result of their plans seem unsatis¬ 
factory, to blame the ever-ready scapegoat, bad luck, as the cause of the 
untoward outcome. One of the most healthful and profitable exercises 
which a young man who has just experienced failure of any kind 
can perform, will be to analyze the whole transaction with merci¬ 
less candor, finding out just what proportion of the disaster is due 
to his own fault and what is due to fortuitous circumstances, and 
then make a cold-blooded comparison. If this was more generally done 
than it is, there would be far fewer believers in, or rather blamers of, luck 
as a business marplot than are at present to be found. To come down to 
the facts in the case, without going so far as to dispute the existence of 
such a thing as chance, in almost all cases of failure the cause is to be 
found in the man, and the reason it is not found there is because that is 
the last place in which the man hunts for it. “Untoward accidents,” 
“fate,” “destiny,” “ill fortune,” “evil star,” “chance,” “luck,” or some 
other synonym of the scapegoat, suggests itself to the victim of ill-success 
and he consoles himself with charging upon it his failure. He has the 
poets on his side, too. Does not Shakspeare say: 

“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, 

Rough-hew them how we will.” 

And Byron: 

“Men are the sport of circumstances, when 
The circumstances seem the sport of men.” 


454 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMA TION 


And after all has been said, it were better, perhaps, that the young 
business man place some little, very little, credence in luck’s existence, 
just enough in fact, to cause him to so organize upon solid and substantial 
foundation each of his enterprises, and to so honestly and perseveringly 
conduct them, that the smallest possible loop-hole will be left for ill-luck 
to make its appearance. 

CHOOSING AN OCCUPATION. 

Is seldom an easy matter. In some few cases, a young man feels the 
possession of such an unmistakable bias to some peculiar profession that 
neither he nor his friends, have any hesitancy in deciding upon his 
future. It most cases, however there is no particular preference, and a 
wise decision is not reached before many considerations have been care¬ 
fully weighed. In far too many cases wrong considerations are given 
attention, and a decision is reached whose ultimate result is a life failure 
which, had the profession been selected with greater wisdom, would not 
have happened. A socially ambitious father and mother check their 
young son’s honest ambition to become a mechanic, send him to college 
and make a briefless barrister out of the material which could have been 
moulded into an honest and efficient artisan. Many a boy whose soul 
yearned for the higher walks of intellectual culture, to share in which he 
had been endowed, has been doomed by injudicious parents, who des¬ 
pised colleges, to dull life at a dry-goods counter or counting-room desk. 
Parents are not by any means infallible judges upon this point, and every 
young man about to start out in search of success in life should study 
himself carefully in order to discover his aptitudes. The natural bent may 
be hard to find, but the discovery will well repay the search. Historical 
biography teems with the lives of men whose peculiar aptitude was early 
displayed to the advantage of themselves and the world. Napoleon, a 
school boy at Brienne, led the mimic armies of his youthful associates; 
Nelson had conceived the idea of future greatness as a sailor before he 
entered the navy; Pascal contributed to the mathematical literature of 
his age before he was seventeen; Pope acknowledged that 
“While yet a child and still a fool of fame, 

I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came;” 

Dryden illustrated the growth of natural aptitude when he wrote: 

“What the child admired 
The youth endeavored, and the man acquired;” 

Michael Angelo stayed away from school to draw pictures; Murillo 
covered his text-books with them; West, at seven, plundered the cat’s 
tail of hair with which to make pencils; Calhoun, a student, held his 
own in debate with the college president—and so on, until the examples 
of the theory of natural aptitude become too numerous for recapitulation. 

Taking for granted that one has discovered, or believes that he has 
discovered his bent, he must beware of the danger which lies in fickleness 
of purpose, which may, shortly after the weariness of work begins to be 
felt, lead him to suppose that he has chosen unwisely, and that some 
other field of usefulness would be more suitable to his temper and parts. 
It is the practical repetition of the old story of the traveler in the express 
train sighing for the quiet pleasure of the farmer, whose broad fields are 
flying past, while the farmer looks longingly at the train as it passes by, 
and dreams of the enjoyable excitements of a life of endless bustle, stir 
and energy. Whatever the calling, there will be toil and trial for its 
follower, and these come from him rather than from the occupation, 
which might be changed a dozen times in the vain hope of escaping from 


HEARTH AND HOME. 


455 


them. Having deliberately selected a profession, stick to it. The longer 
you remain in it, the more expert you become and the easier becomes 
the work and the larger the pay. It is only the early days which bring 
weariness and pain. These conquered by perseverance, the rest is easy, 
and the success in conquering the first pleadings of the siren fickleness 
of purpose, who is of closer kin to laziness than one might think, lays 
the corner-stone of success in life. 

excelsior! 

Having chosen his occupation, the young man of proper ambition 
wfill not be long in selecting for himself an honorable position in it, to 
be filled as soon as he has shown himself worthy and able. What men 
have accomplished shows that hardly any ambitious longing can be con¬ 
sidered as unwise on the part of those who are willing to undertake all 
work and suffer all want in the struggle. 

The extremest poverty has been no obstacle in the way of men de¬ 
voted to the duty of self-culture. Professor Alexander Murray, the lin¬ 
guist, learned to write by scribbling his letters on an old wool-card with 
the end of a burnt heather-stem. The only book which his father, who 
was a poor shepherd, possessed, was a penny Shorter Catechism; but, 
that being thought too valuable for common use, was carefully preserved 
in a cupboard for the Sunday catechizings. Professor Moore, when a 
young man, being too poor to purchase Newton’s “Principia,” borrowed 
the book, and copied the whole of it with his own hand. Many poor 
students, while laboring daily for their living, have only been able to 
snatch an atom of knowledge here and there at intervals, as birds do their 
food in winter time when the fields are covered with snow. They have 
struggled on, and faith and hope have come to them. A well known 
author and publisher, William Chambers, of Edinburgh, speaking before 
an assemblage of young men in that city, thus briefly described to them 
his humble beginnings for their encouragement: “I stand before you, ” 
he said, “a self-educated man. My education is that which is supplied 
at the humble parish-schools of Scotland; and it was only when I went 
to Edinburgh, a poor boy, that I devoted my evenings, after the labors of 
the day, to the cultivation of that intellect which the Almighty has given 
me. From seven or eight in the morning till nine or ten at night was I 
at my business as a bookseller’s apprentice, and it was only during hours 
after these, stolen from sleep, that I could devote myself to study. I did 
notread novels; my attention was devoted to physical science and other 
useful matters. I also taught myself French. I look back to those times 
with great pleasure, and am almost sorry I have not to go through the 
same experience again; for I reaped more pleasure when I had not a six¬ 
pence in my pocket, studying in a garret in Edinburgh, than I now find 
when sitting amid all the elegancies and comforts of a parlor.” 

William Cobbett learned English grammar when he was a private 
soldier on the pay of sixpence a day. 

These are men who have selected an aim in life and have attained it . 
through sticking to it. Concentration of purpose carried them through. 
The “Admirable Crichtons” are scarce geniuses, and no young man need 
be ashamed, in these days of special accomplishment, of having decided 
to follow a single pursuit in life—to become a man of one idea—provided 
it is a good one. Almost all the great men in war, literature, science, 
diplomacy, business, the professions, have been men of “one idea,” not 
because they were incapable of harboring more than one, but because, 
having selected some one object as worthy of attainment, they 


456 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION 


gave themselves up to it solely. It was often long of coming, but it came 
at last. Adam Smith gave ten years to his “Wealth of Nations;” Edward 
Gibbon, twenty to the “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire;” Bishop 
Butler, twenty to his famous “Analogy;” Kant, fifty years to his meta¬ 
physical researches; Dr. Johnson, seven years to his Dictionary. These 
men sought one prize and gained it. As many years have been spent by 
thousands of men of equal ability, who sought each a number of prizes 
and gained none. 

A SOUND BODY 

Is another of the essentials of success in life winch are largely attainable 
by those who lack their possession. Mental as well as physical accom¬ 
plishment depends largely upon the condition of the worker’s digestion; 
and the thorough aeration of his blood. This can only be obtained with 
healthy exercise, which can only be taken by those whose muscles and 
nerves and wind are in good condition. “Walk twelve miles before 
speaking and yon’ll never break down,” says Sydney Smith to an Eng¬ 
lish parliamentary debater. A strong intellect cannot well work with a 
weak body as its case. Energy without talent will accomplish more 
than talent without energy. The sharp edge of the woodman’s axe avails 
nothing until the sinewy arm throws it, stroke upon stroke, against the 
monarchs of the forest. Take the great men of the century, and it will 
be seen that they combined intellectual force with physical vigor. In 
England, Brougham, Eyndhurst, Peel, Bright, Gladstone, Palmerston; 
in America, Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Lincoln 
—all these w r ere men capable of strong muscular exertion and of standing 
a prolonged physical as well as mental strain. It is told of Lord 
Brougham that he once worked six days on a stretch without sleep, 
slept from Saturday night to Monday morning, and began work again 
thoroughly refreshed. These men are the conservers as well as the pos¬ 
sessors of physical force, and the young man who seeks to retain the 
“ sound mind in a sound body ” will remember that it is not so much in 
the cultivation of additional body strength as in the economy of what he 
already possesses that the art of. physical culture is best applied. The 
idea used to be that muscularity and rowdyism were natural associates, 
but people found out that it is possible for a young man to be a good 
rower, or boxer even, and still be a worthy Christian and admirable 
member of society, and even that it was difficult for him to be these un¬ 
less with the employment of manly exercises he brought his physical 
condition up to the healthy standard. This is merely a recurrence to 
the old belief of the Greeks, who reverence the muscular body as one of 
the noble parts of man, and made gymnastics and calisthenics a regular 
school exercise. Without good health and a sound body, moderate suc¬ 
cess in life may be painfully possible; with it a place in the front rank 
may be attained with far greater ease than otherwise. 

SEEF-REEIANCE. 

Among all the mental qualifications which help on to success in 
life, there is none which is of more importance than self-reliance. If you 
want a thing well done, do it yourself, says the old saw, and hence comes 
it that those who rely most upon themselves for the accomplishment of 
any aim are the ones who do the best work. “Heaven helps those who 
help themselves,” is a well tried maxim, embodying in small compass the 
results of vast business experience. The spirit of self-help is the root of all 
genuine growth in the individual; and, exhibited in the lives of many, 
it constitutes the true source of national vigor and strength. Help from 


HEARTH AND HOME . 


457 


without is often enfeebling in its effects, but help from within invariably 
invigorates. Whatever is done for men or classes, to a certain extent 
takes away the stimulus and necessity of doing for themselves; and 
where men are subjected to over-guidance and over-government, the 
inevitable tendency is to render them comparatively helpless. 

It is energetic individualism which produces the most powerful 
effect upon the life and actions of others, and really constitutes the best 
practical education. The determination to be one’s own helper is the 
secret of this individual development and strength. No greater misfor¬ 
tune could befall an ambitious and able young man than a legacy. A 
story is told of a critic who, after reviewing the promising work of a 
young artist, praised it, but added: “It is a pity that he can never make 
a great painter.” “And why not? ” rejoined his companion. “Because 
he has ten thousand pounds a year,” was the sententious response. 
When John C. Calhoun was ridiculed by his fellow-students at Yale for 
his intense application to study, he raised a louder laugh against him¬ 
self by replying, “I am forced to make the most of my time that I may 
acquit myself creditably when in Congress,” and then, when the laugh 
was over, adding, “I assure you, if I were not satisfied of my ability to 
reach Congress in three years, I would at once leave college.” Here 
was self-reliance and self-help. Calhoun knew the difficulties that lay 
between him and the goal of his ambition, and, while the other students 
were laughing at him, he was helping himself to overcome them. “The 
man who dares to think for himself and act independently, does a service 
to his race,” says one of the brightest modern thinkers, and daily ex¬ 
perience shows that it is energetic individualism which produces the 
most powerful effects upon the life and action of others, and really con¬ 
stitutes the best practical education. Schools, academies and colleges 
give but the merest beginnings of culture in comparison with it. Far 
more influential is the life-education daily given in our homes, in the 
streets, behind counters, in workshops, at the loom and the plow, in 
counting-houses and manufactories, and in the busy haunts of men. 
This is that finishing instruction as members of society which Schiller 
designated “the education of the human race,” consisting in action, 
conduct, self-culture, self-control -all that tends to discipline a man 
truly, and fit him for the proper performance of the duties and business 
of life—a kind of education not to be learned from books, or acquired 
by any amount of mere literary training. With his usual weight of 
words, Bacon observes that “studies teach not their own use; but that is 
a wisdom without them and above them won by observation”—a remark 
that holds true of actual life as well as of the cultivation of the intellect 
itself. For all experience serves to illustrate and enforce the lesson 
that a man perfects himself by work more than by reading - that it is 
life rather than literature, action rather than study, and character rather 
than biography, which tend perpetually to renovate mankind. 

attention to detail 

Is a matter which constitutes much more than half of the battle in many 
spheres of usefulness, and, the more intellectual the task, the greater the 
necessity, very frequently, of careful and constant devotion to the little 
things which help to form it. Sedulous attention and painstaking in¬ 
dustry always mark the true worker. The greatest men are not those 
who “despise the day of small things,” but those who improve them the 
most carefully. Michael Angelo was one day explaining to a visitor at 
his studio what he had been doing at a statue since his previous visit. “I 


458 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION . 


have retouched this part—polished that—softened this feature—brought 
out that muscle—given some expression to this lip, and more energy to 
that limb.” “But these are trifles,” remarked the visitor. “It may be 
so,” replied the sculptor, “but recollect that trifles make perfection, and 
perfection is no trifle.” So it was said of Nicholas Poussin, the painter, 
that the rule of his conduct was, that “whatever w ? as worth doing at all 
was worth doing well;” and when asked, late in life, by his friend Vig- 
neul de Marville, by what means he had gained so high a reputation 
among the painters of Italy, Poussin emphatically answered, “Because 
I have neglected nothing.” On the first publication of Wellington’s 
dispatches, one of his friends said to him, on reading the records of his 
Indian campaigns: “It seems to me, Duke, that your chief business in 
India was to procure rice and bullocks.” “And so it was,” replied 
Wellington, “for, if I had rice and bullocks, I had men; and if I had men 
I knew I could beat the enemy.” All men who have accomplished suc¬ 
cess in life have been conspicuous for minute attention to detail as w r ell 
as for general scope and vigor. The great Napoleon was a wonderful 
example of this. His correspondence shows him arranging for supplies 
of saddles, directing where cattle could be purchased, advising the pro¬ 
curement of shoes for the infantry, and making suggestions as to various 
minor details, and complaining because of discovered carelessness in the 
reports upon matters of detail supplied by others. Lord Brougham, 
alluding to this quality, said: “The captain who conveyed Napoleon to 
Elba expressed to me his astonishment at his precise and, as it were, 
familiar knowledge of all the minute details connected with the ship.” 

In the face of these examples, no one should come to the conclusion 
that details are beneath one’s notice, or that one is less brilliant in the 
great things of life because he pays attention to the little things. Of 
General Thomas it is said that he was careful in all the details of a battle, 
but, once in the fight, was as “furious and impetuous as Jackson.” At¬ 
tention to details makes a business man, or any other kind of man, “sure 
that he is right,” and then, of course, it only remains for him to “go 
ahead.” 

DECISION OF CHARACTER 

Is one of the greatest of God’s gifts to man, and, as every man has the 
germ of this quality, it can be cultivated to great advantage. It out¬ 
strips even talent and genius in the race for success in life. Thousands 
and thousands of brilliant men have failed for the want of courage, faith 
and decision, perishing in the sight of less gifted, but more adventur¬ 
ous competitors. As Sidney Smith says: “We must not stand shivering 
on the brink and thinking of the cold and the danger, but jump in and 
scramble through as well as we can.” 

The old poem says: 

“He either fears his fate too much, 

Or his deserts are small, 

That dares not put it to the touch. 

To gain or lose it all.” 

Decision of character enables one to do the right thing at the right 
time. Every one knows that 

‘ There is a tide in the affairs of men 

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;” 

but not every one has the ability to tell the time of flood, and many, 
after telling it, have lost its advantages through lack of nerve to em¬ 
bark upon it before the ebb came, and the opportunity was lost. In the 


HEARTH AND HOME. 


459 


smoke and din of battle, it was the genius of Napoleon, which enabled 
him to see where one or two bold and rapid movements would secure 
the advantage; but it was his decision of character which enabled him 
to profit to the full by the discovery. . To be decisive on important oc¬ 
casions, one must keep cool. The Duke of Wellington’s calmness never 
forsook him, even in the most trying emergencies. At sea, one terrible 
night, the captain of the vessel rushed to the Duke, who was preparing 
for bed, and announced that the vessel would soon sink. “Then I shall 
not take off my boots,” the imperturbable hero of Waterloo responded as 
he paused in his preparations for sleep. There is need for this coolness 
of manner and decision of action in all lines of business. The surgeon, 
brought face to face with a sudden complication in the case beneath his 
knife; the lawyer, surprised by the springing of the trap which his wily 
opponent had prepared for him; the merchant, apprised of a turn in his 
enterprises that threatens immediate disaster—all are called upon to 
exercise this quality, and in thousands of cases the dullest man in a 
company has obtained the prize simply because he grasped it while 
others were revolving in their minds what they had better do in order 
to secure it. 

NEVER DESPAIR. 

Columbus was the son of a weaver, and a weaver himself. Oliver 
Cromwell was the son of a brewer. Howard an apprentice to a grocer. 
Benjamin Franklin, a journeyman printer. Claude Lorraine was bred 
up a pastry cook. Moliere was the son of a tapestry maker. Cervantes 
served as a common soldier. Homer was a beggar. Demosthenes was 
the son of a cutler. Terence was a slave. Daniel De Foe was a hosier, 
and the son of a butcher. Whitefield, son of an inn-keeper. Sir Clou- 
desley Shovel, rear-admiral of England, was an apprentice to a shoe¬ 
maker, and afterwards a cabin boy. Bishop Prideaux worked in the 
kitchen at Exeter College, Oxford. Cardinal Woolsey was the son of a 
butcher. Ferguson was a shepherd. William Hogarth was but an ap¬ 
prentice to an engraver of pewter pots. Dr. Mountain was the son of a 
beggar. Virgil, son of a porter. Horace, of a shop-keeper. 

TALENT AND FACT. 

To excel others is a proof of talent; to know when to conceal su¬ 
periority is the fruit of tact. Further comparisons of these qualities 
have been thus set forth by a recent English writer: 

Talent is something, but tact everything. Talent is power—tact is 
skill; talent is weight -tact is momentum; talent knows what to do— 
tact knows how to do it; talent makes a man respectable—tact will make 
a man respected; talent is wealth—tact is ready money. For all practi¬ 
cal purposes of life, tact carries it against talent—ten to one. Talent 
makes the world wonder that it gets on no faster—tact excites astonish¬ 
ment that it gets on so fast; and the seeret is that it has no weight to 
carry; it makes no false steps—it hits the right nail on the head-it loses 
no time—it takes all hints—and by keeping its eye on the weather-cock, 
is ready to take advantage of every wind that blows. It has the air of 
commonplace, aud all the force and powers of genius. It can change 
sides with hey-presto movement and be at all points of the compass, 
while talent is ponderously and learnedly shifting a single point. Tal¬ 
ent calculates clearly, reasons logically, makes out a case as clear as day¬ 
light utters its oracles wiih all the weight of justice and reason. Tact 
refutes without contradicting, puzzles the profound with profundity, and 
without wit outwits the wise. Setting them together on a race for popu- 


460 


MANUAL OF USEFUL INFORMATION. 


larity, pen in hand, and tact will distance talent by half the course. 
Talent brings to market that which is wanted; tact produces that which 
is wished for. Talent instructs; tact enlightens. Talent leads where no 
man follows; tact follows where humor leads. Talent is pleased that it 
ought to have succeeded; tact is delighted that it has succeeded. Talent 
toils for a posterity that will never repay it; tact throws away no pains, 
but catches the drift of the passing hour. Talent builds for eternity, 
tact on short lease, and gets good interest. Talent is certainly a very 
fine thing to talk about, a very good thing to be proud of, a very glori¬ 
ous eminence to look down from; but tact is useful, portable, applicable, 
always marketable; it is the talent of talents, the availableness of re¬ 
sources, the applicability of power, the eye of discrimination, the right 
hand of intellect. 

PARTING COUNSEL. 

Keep good company or none. Never be idle. If your hands cannot 
be usefully employed, attend to the cultivation of your mind. Always 
speak the truth. Make few promises. Live up to your engagements. 
Keep your own secrets, if you have any. When you speak to a person 
look him in the face. Good company and good conversation are the 
very sinews of virtue. Good character is above all things else. Your 
character cannot be essentially injured except by your own acts. If one 
speak evil of you, let your life be such that none will believe him. 
Drink no kind of intoxicating liquors. Always live, misfortune excepted, 
within your income. When you retire to bed, think over what you have 
been doing during the day. Make no haste to be rich if you would 
prosper. Small and steady gains give competency with tranquility of 
mind. Never play at anj- kind of game of chance. Avoid temptation 
through fear that you may not be able to withstand it. Never run into 
debt, unless you see a way to get out again. Never borrow if you can 
possibly avoid it: Never speak evil of any one. Be just before you are 
generous. Keep yourself innocent if you would be happy. Save when 
you are young to spend when you are old. Never think that which you 
do for religion is time or money mispent. Read some portion of your 
Bible every day. Often think of death, and your accountability to God, 
your creator. 




ALPHABETICAL INDEX 


A BBOT of Westminster, 332. 

Abbreviations, List of, 105-107. 
Abdicated Moriarchs, 310. 

Abdication, Defined, 299. 

Abolition Party, 269. 

Abracadabra, 315. 

Abydos, 332. 

Abyssinia, Facts on, 367, 369. 
Abyssinian War, 200. 

Achates, 134. 

Acheron, 134. 

Achilles, 134. 

Acadie, Story of, 341. 

Acre, What is an, 180. 

Acrostic, Definition, 53. 

Actium, Battle of, 199. 

Adams, Pres. John, 26. 

Adams, Pres. John Q., 26. 

Adeler, Max, 120. 

Adjectives, Misuse of, 57. 

Admirals, Grades of, 364. 

Adonis, 134. 

Advertisements, The First, 139. 
Advocatus Diaboli, The, 362. 

AEneid, Story of, 115. 
yEolus, The god, 134, 

Aerolites, Remarkable, 243. 
Afghanistan, Facts on, 367, 369. 

Africa, 368. 

Africanders, 298. 

Agamemnon, 134. 

Agapemone, 209. 

Age of Bronze, 295. 

Agency, Laws of, 250. 

Agents, Liability of, 249. 

Ages, Historic, 49, 

Agreements, Law of, 251. 

Air Gun, Invention of, 164. 

Air Pump, Invention of, 164. 

Ajaccio, 336. 

Ajax, 134. 

Alabama Question, 15, 17. 

Aladdin, Plot of, 112. 

Alastor, Definition, no. 

Albany, City of, 26. 

Albinos, The, 380. 

Albion, 134. 

Alceste, 134. 

Alcohol, In Liquors, 144; Name of, 145. 
Alfred the Great, 328. 

Alhambra, 333. 

Ali Baba, Story of, 113. 

Alien and Sedition Laws, 14. 

Alien Land Holders, 30. 

Alleghany, City of, 267. 

Allegory, Explained, 55. 

Alliteration, Gems of, 323. 

Alloway, 335. 

Almack’s Club, 337. 

Alma Mater, 349. 

“Almighty Dollar,” 165. 

Alpaca, Description, 141. 


Alphabet, Derivation of, 3x5; Origin of the, 
55 ; The Runic, 54. 

Alsatia, 335. 

Altar, the First, 205. 

Alto in Music, 286. 

Alum, Dry, 244. 

Amadis of Gaul, 340. 

Amalekites, 378. 

Ambassadors, Rank of, 363. 

Amber, 145. 

Ambergris, 143. 

Amen Corner, 338. 

America, Discovery of, 11, 12; First things 
in, 11, 12; Prehistoric, 380. 

Americanisms, 54. 

Amerigo Vespucci, 339. 

Amethyst, 133. 

Ammonia, Uses of, 426. 

Amphion, 134. 

Amphitrite, 134. 

Amsterdam, City of, 329. 

Amulets, 127. 

Anagram, Definition and Specimens, 55; 

Some Curious, 320. 

Anastatic Printing, 164. 

Ancho, 127. 

Anchor, Invention of, 164. 

Ancient Mariner, The, 112. 

Ancomarca, Custom House of, 328. 
Andromache, 134. 

Andromeda, 134. 

Anemometer, Invention of, 164. 

Angelus Bell, 207. 

Anglesey, How Named, 331. 

Animals, Migration of, 233. 

Animism, 380. 

Annexation, 271. 

Annie Laurie, 335. 

Anniversaries, Wedding, 353. 

Anstey, F., 120. 

Antarctic, Meaning of, 232. 

Anthracite Coal, 142. 

Anthropology, 375. 

Anthropophagi, The, 376. 

Anthropophagy, 355. 

Antichrist, 207. 

Antietam, The River, 191 
Antigone, 134. 

Anti-Renters, 17. 

Anti-Semites, 299. 

Antonyms, Twelve Thousand, 73-97. 

Ants, To Destroy, 439. 

Anvil, The Largest, 153. 

Apache War, 27. 

Aphelion, What is, 225. 

Aphorisms, 53. 

Aphrodite, Her name, 126. 

Apis, 134. 

Apocalyptic Number, 317. 

Apocrypha, Bible, 214. 

Apollo, The god, 134. 

Apophthegms, 53. 


461 





462 


ALPHABE TICAL INDEX. 


Apoplexy and Fits, 444. 

Apothecaries’ Weight, 182. 

Apotheosis, 125. 

Apostle Spoons, 353. 

Apostles, Fate of the, 218. 

Appian Way, 156. 

Aqua Fortis, 244. 

Aqua Regia, 244. 

Arabian Nights, The, 112. 

Arachne, 134. 

Arbor Day, 42. 

Arbor Vitae, 372. 

Arcades, 351. 

Archduke and Archduchess, 362. 

Architecture, As Fine Art, 284; Byzantine, 
286; Orders of, 285; Saracenic, 287. 
Arctic, Described, 232. 

Area Center of the United States, 19. 

Area of Circles, 184. 

Arethusa, 134. 

Argentina, 367, 369. 

Argus, The Hundred-Eyed, 134. 

Ariadne, 134. 

Arion, 134. 

Arithmetic, Curious Problems in, 315, 316,323, 
326- 

Armies, In Civil War, 35. 

Armistice, An, 19T. 

Army, Generals of the U. S., 27. 

Army, The Salvation, 219. 

Army Worm, 227. 

Aroostook War, 27. 

Arrack, What is, 146. 

Art, Caricature in, 288; Cartoons in, 285; 
Realism in, 285; Realistic, 285; Love of, 
286. 

Art Divine, The, 290. 

Artesian Wells, 247, 328. 

Arthur, Pres. C. A., 26. 

Artisans, Hints for, 160. 

Asia, Continent of, 368. 

Astor, The China, 372. 

Atalanta, 134. 

Atheism, 205. 

Athens, Maid of, 113. 

Atlanta, City of, 26. 

Atlantic Cable, it. 

Atmosphere, 228. 

Attorneyship, Laws of, 256. 

Auctioneers, Ways of, 142. 

Auctions, Theory of, 148. 

Aurora, The goddess, 134. 

Aurora Borealis, 243. 

Australasia, 368. 

Australian Ballot, 276. 

Austria-Hungary, 367, 369. 

Austrian Serfdom, 33. 

Autocrat, Defined, 306. 

Autumn, 43. 

Avebury Stones, 376. 

Ave Maria Lane, 338. 

Avoirdupois Weight, 182. 

Aztecs, The, 380. 

B ABEL, Tower of, 375. 

Babelmandeb, Straits of, 332. 

Babylon, Hanging Gardens of, 346. 
Babylonian Captivity, 314 
Babylonians, 378. 

Bacchus, The Pagan, 134. 

Bacchus and the Goat, 126. 

Balaklava, Charge of, 196. 


Balloon, The First, 225. 

Balloons, Famous, 164. 

Baltimore, City of, 26. 

Banking, Capital in, 167; Our System of, 175. 
Bank-Notes, 166. 

Bankrupts, The Term, 168; Laws Concerning, 
173. 

Banks, National, 165-176; Of England, 168. 
Barbarossa, 296. 

Barberini Vase, 291, 

Barmecides’ Feast, no. 

Barn-Burners, 17, 272. 

Barnum, P. T., 327. 

Barometers, 164, 225. 

Barrels, Measure of, 186. 

Barry Cornwall, 314. 

Barry, The Artist, 292. 

Barter, History of, 143. 

Bartholomew Fair, 338. 

Bashi-Bazouks, 195. 

Basques, Race of, 378. 

Bastille, The French, 333. 

Bastinado, The, 305, 350. 

Bathing, 390, 411. 

Bathos, 56. 

Battalions, Military, 189. 

Battles, Seven Days’, 192; Of Lissa, 193; 
Wager of, 196; Losses in, 197; Of the 
Civil War, 197. 

Baumann’s Cavern, 328. 

Bay of Fundy, 327. 

Bay Rum, 434. 

Beans, Black and White, 352. 

Beauty and the Beast, 114. 

Bed Bugs, 440. 

Bed of Justice, 303. 

Bede, Cuthbert, 120. 

Bedlam, 336. 

Bedouins, 381. 

Beelzebub, Title of, 211. 

Befana, 128. 

Beguines, Order of, 216. 

Begum, Title of, 362. 

“ Bel and the Dragon,” in. 

Belgse, The, 377. 

Belgium, Facts on, 367, 369. 

Belial, 207. 

Bell, Currer, 120. 

Bell, On Shipboard, 45. 

Bellerophon, 134. 

Bellona, The goddess, 134. 

Bellows, Invention of, 164. 

Bells, The Largest, 154; The Angelus, 207. 
Beluchistan, 367, 359. 

Belvedere, The, 327. 

Berenice, 134. 

Berlin Congress, The, 305. 

Berlin, Treaty of, 305, 308. 

Betserker, The Hero, 128. 

Besique, Game of, 354. 

Bessemer Steel, Invention of, 153. 

Bey, Title of, 360. 

Bezants, 178. 

Bible, 53; Apocrypha of, 214; Bishops’, 206; 
Breeches, 208; Coverdale’s, 207; Five 
Kings, 218; Gutenberg, 213 ; Meaning of, 
109; Newton on the, 206; Peculiarities of, 
213 ; Societies, 217 ; Some Costly, 109; The 
Douay, 211; The Eddas, 218; The Koran, 
218; The Treacle, 206; The Vedas, 218 > 
The Zendevesta, 218; Try Pitikes, 218. 
Biblioklept, no. 



ALPHABETICAL LNDEX. 


463 


Bibliomancy, 112. 

Bibliomania, 115. 

Bickerstaff, Isaac, 120. 

Bierstadt, The Artist, 293. 

Bilge, Ship’s, 354. 

Billiards, Origin of, 351. 

Billings, Josh, 120. 

Bills of Sale, 264. 

Bi-metallism, 167. 

Binnacle, Ship’s, 226. 

Biographers, Prince of, 109. 

Biography, in. 

Biology, 231. 

Bird Lime, 144. 

Bird’s Eye Views, 287. 

Birds, Flight of ,226; Ages of,350; Singing of,350 
Births, Illegitimate, 392. 

Bismarck, Prince, 331. 

Bison, The American, 14. 

Bitumen, 143. 

“ Black Art,” The Term, 126. 

Black Boards, To Make, 162. 

Black Death, The, 391. 

Black, George, 334. 

Black Hawk, The Indian, 330; War of, 27. 
Black Hole, 339. 

Black Letter, 112. 

Black Thursday, 356. 

Black Watch, The, 296. 

Blank Verse, 113. 

Blarney Castle, 331. 

Blasting, Described, 156. 

Blenheim, Battle of, 199. 

Blind Persons, 388; Numbers of 389. 

Blisters, Use of, 391. 

Blizzards, 235 

Block House, The Term, 19b. 

Block-system, The, 144. 

Blood, The, 393, Functions of, 393. 

Blood Money, 301. 

Bloodstone, The, 133. 

Blouses, 352. 

Blowpipes, 231. 

Bluebeard, Story of, 117. 

Blue Books, The, 273. 

Blue Stockings, 112. 

Blue Vitriol, 244. 

Blunders, Milton’s, 109; Of Novelists, no. 
Boarding, Naval Term, 192. 

Boarding-House Laws, 263. 

Boasting, Habit of, 425. 

Bocaccio, Costly Edition of, 109. 

Bodleian Library, 125. 

Body, In Flames, 441; A Sound, 456. 

Boers, The, 380. 

Bog Oak Ornaments, 155. 

Bogus, Definition of, 168. 

Boiling Point, 238. 

Bokhara, Facts on, 367, 369. 

Bolas, 194. 

Bolivia, Republic of, 367, 369. 

Bombardments, Heavy, 195. 

Bonds, Law of, 263. 

Bonheur, Rosa, 292. 

Bonnet Rouge, 303. 

Bonny Doon, 335. 

Bonzes, The, 208. .. 

Books, Canonical, 206; Chap no; Costliest, 
122; The Earliest, 109; The First, 122; 
Honors Among, 122; Invention of, 109; 
The Largest, 122; The Sibylline, 127; 
Sizes of, 185. 


Bookseller’s Terms, 185. 

Boom, The Term, 167. 

Boomerang, The, 193. 

Boot of Prussia, The, 295. 

Booty, Definition of, iqo. 

Border States, 13. 

Boreas, 134. 

Borough, English, 376. 

Boss, The Term, 362. 

Boston, City of, 26. 

Boston Tea Party, 299. 

Bottle Charts, 232. 

Bottles, Corking, 437. 

Boulders and Cliffs, 234. 

Boulevards, 359. 

Bow and Arrows, 195. 

Bowie-Knives, 153. 

Bowstring, The, 350. 

Boxing-Day, 353. 

Boycotting, 302. 

Braganza Diamond, 370. 

Braidism, Defined, 236. 

Brain, Compression of, 443; Weight of, 391. 
Bramah, Joseph, 337. 

Branding, 297. 

Brassware, Cleaning, 438. 

Bravest of the Brave, The, 189. 

Brazil, U. States of, 367, 367. 

Brazil Grass, 325. 

Breath, Bad, 432. 

Breeding, Good, 424, 

Breitman Hans, 120. 

Breviary and Missal, 214. 

Brevet, Rank by, 366. 

Briareus, 134. 

Bricks, Color of, 143 ; Use of Burnt, 152. 

Bride of Abydos, 332. 

Bride of the Sea, 298. 

Bridges, Noted, 159; Highest Natural, 328; Of 
Sighs, 329, 332. 

Britain, Invasion of, 189. 

British Lion, The, 302. 

British Museum Library, 122. 

Broadcloth, To Clean, 394, 435. 

Broadside, A Naval, 192. 

Brochs, 377. 

Brocken, The, 334. 

Broken Limbs, 388. 

Broker and Brokerage, 175; Curbstone, 175; 

Bull and Bear, 56. 

Bronchitis, 399. 

Brook Farm, 356. 

Brooklyn, City of, 26. 

Brooms, To Preserve, 438. 

Broque, Definition of, 55. 

Brose, Scottish Dish, 355. 

Brown, F. Madox, 292. 

Brownie, The, 130. 

Buccaneers, The, 300, 306. 

Bucentaur, The Galley, 129, 302. 

Bucephalus, Story of, 126. 

Buchanan, Pres. James, 26. 

Bucktails, The, 17. 

Buddhists, Who they are, 208. 

Budget, Explained, 166. 

Buffalo, Population of, 26; True Name of, 14. 
Bug Poison, 440. . 

Buildings, Public, 359; The Largest, 359; 

Prehistoric, 377. 

Bul-bul, The Turkish, no. 

Bulgaria, Kingdom of, 367. 

Bulgarian Atrocities, 195, 298. 



464 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


Bull, John, 302. 

Bulls and Bears, 56, 175. 

Bulls, Papal, 211. 

Bulwer-Clayton Treaty, 270. 

Bungalows, 351. 

Bunkum, The Term, 56. 

Buonarotti, M. Angelo, 292. 

Buoyancy, The Term, 233. 

Burns, Remedy for, 441. 

Burns, Robert, Monument to, 335; Birthplace 
of, 335- 

Burnt Brick, First Use of, 152. 

Burritt, Elihu, 333. 

Busiris, 134. 

By-Products of Coal, 148. 

Byzantine School, The, 292. 

Byzantines, 178. 

C ABAL, Political, 273. 

Cabbala, The, 212. 

Cabinets, Government, 274. 

Cable, The Atlantic, ix. 

Cade, Jack, 335. 

Cadmus, 56, 135. 

Caduceus, 135. 

Caesarism, Rule of, 271. 

“ Qa ira,” The, 304. 

Cairn, The Celtic, 381. 

Caissons, Engineering, 155, 156. 

Calends, The, 44. 

Calaveras Grove, 331. 

Calderon, P. H., 292. 

Caledonia, 335. 

Calendars, Adjustment of, 51; French Repub¬ 
lican, 46; Historical, 47. 

Calif, Title of, 365. 

Calisthenics, 390. 

Calomel, 244. 

Calumet, The, 375 
Calvinists, 301. 

Calypso, 135. 

Cambridge, City of, 26. 

Camel, The Engineering, 164, 351. 

Camelia, The, 372. 

Camels, Strength of, 228. 

Camden, City of, 26. 

Cameos, 283. 

Camera-Lucida, 164. 

Camera-Obscura, Described, 286; Invention 
of, 164. 

Camisards, The, 301. 

Camp Followers, 194. 

Camp Meetings, 210. 

Canaletti, The Artist, 293. 

Candelabra, 285. 

Candytuft The, 372. 

Candlemas, Feast of, 216. 

Cannibalism, 355. 

Cannon, Invention of, 164. 

Canonical Books, 206. 

Canonization, 207. 

Canons, Ecclesiastical, 352. 

Canton, The Municipal, 350. 

Capacity, Measures of, 186. 

Cap-a-pie, The Term, 190. 

Capital, Our National, 15. 

Capital Letters, 65. 

Capitals of States, 19. 

Cap of Liberty, 300. 

Caps, Percussion, 189. 

Caracci, Annibale, 292. 

Carat, What is a, 178. 


Carbonari, The, 302. 

Card-Playing, 289. 

Cardinal, Rank of, 335. 

Cardinals, College of, 2x8. 

Carey, William, Rev., 329. 

Caricature, 288. 

Carillon National, The, 304. 

Carmagnole, The, 301, 303, 304. 

Carnation, White, 372. 

Carmen Sylva, 120. 

Carnegie, Andrew, 328. 

Carol, The Poetic, 353. 

Carpet Baggers, 14. 

Carpets, To Cleanse, 428. 

Carpets, Stains in, 438. 

Carte Blanche, 300. 

Cartel, What is a, 190. 

Cartesian Doctrines, 207. 

Cartoons, 285, 287. 

Cartouch, Military, 192. 

Caryatides, Architectural, 285. 

Casa Bonaparte, 336. 

Casino, The Term, 353. 

Casks, Measure of, 186. 

Cassandra, 135. 

Castanets, 287. ' 

Caste, In India, 371, 376. 

Castles in Spain, 351. 

Casting Vote, 273. 

Castor and Pollux, 135. 

Casus Belli, 192. 

Catamaran, 154. 

Catarrh, Treatment of, 399. 

Cathay, 327. 

Cattle, Weight of, 186; Distribution of, 377. 
Caucus, Political, 273. 

Caustic Potassa, 244. 

Cavaliers, 304. 

Caveats, 29. 

Caves, Famous, 12, 16. 

Caviare, T41 
Celts, Race of, 377. 

Cement, For Rubber Boots, 160: For Tin 
Boxes, 435, For Sundry Uses, 436, 437. 
Cenobites, Father of the, 343. 

Centaurs, The 135. 

Center of Population, 19. 

Cerberus, 135. 

Ceres, The goddess, 135. 

Chairs, Sedan, 157. 

Chaldeans, The, 378. 

Chalets, Swiss, 351. 

Chalk, 244. 

Chamberlain, Office of, 361. 

Chambers of Commerce, 142. 

Chambre Ardente, 297. 

Champ de Mars, The, 311, 330. 

Chancery, Masters in, 361. 

Changelings, Fairy, 126. 

Chant du Depart, 304. 

Chap Books, Described, no. 

Chapels, Origin of, 207. 

Chapter, What is a, 207. 

Character, Decision of, 458. 

Charades, 355. 

Charge d’affaires, 362. 

Charing Cross, 330. 

Charivari, 353. 

Charles XII., 333. 

Charlemagne University, 328. 

Charon’s Ferry, 135. 

Chartists, The, 303. 




ALPHABETICAL INDEX . 


465 


Charybdis and Scylla, 135. 

Chassepot Gun, 190, 

Chatelaine, 362. 

Chat-huant, 362. 

Chatterton, Thomas, 331. 

Chauvinism, 352, 

Chemical Affinity, 227. 

Chemicals, Names of, 244. 

Cheops, Pyramid of, 158. 

Cherokee Indians, 32. 

Cherokee War, 27. 

Chess, Game of, 353. 

Chest, Military, 190. 

Chevalier, The Title, 363. 

Chicago, 139; Industries in, 140; Age of, 327; 

Great Fire of, 296 ; Population of, 334. 
Chickasaw Indians, 32. 

Chicopee Works, 154. 

Childs, George W., 328. 

Chile, Republic of, 367, 369. 

Chillon, Castle of, 331. 

Chimera, 135. 

Chimneys, Lamp, 438. 

China, History of, 349; Opium Smokers in, 
393; Printing in, 152 ; Religions in, 208 ; 
Statistics, 369, 381; Taouism in, 209; The 
Great Wall of, 151. 

Chinese History, 349. 

Chiswick, 329. 

Chloroform, 244. 

Choctaw Indians, 32. 

Choke-Damp, 228. 

Choking, 443. 

Chouans, 3O2. 

Christ, Early Paintings of, 285. 

Christian Era, 42. 

Christian Feasts,'Chief, 46. 

Christianity, Art in, 285. 

Christian Names, Meaning of, 66. 

Christmas Day, 43. 

Chronicles, 42. 

Chronographs, 42. 

Chronometer, The, 42. 

Chronoscopes, 41, 164. 

Chubb Lock, Invention of, 153 

Churches, Crypts in, 206; Eldest Son of, 296; 

Fathers of the, 207; The Oldest, 205. 

Cid Campeador, 332. 

Cigar-Ship, The First, 152. 

Cipher, History of, 54. 

Cirnbre, The, (Cymri) 350, 375. 

Cimmerians, The, 376. 

Cincinnati Association, 274. 

Cincinnati, City of 26. 

Cinderella, Story of, 113. 

Cinque-Cento, The, no. 

Circe, 135. 

Circus, Origin of, 128. 

Cities, Nicknames of, 22; Our fifty chief, 26; 
Famous Ancient, 343. 

Civil Service, Guide to, 27; The Term, 271. 
Civil War, Armies of, 35. 

Claimant, The Tichborne, 342. 

Claque, Theatrical, 355. 

Clavichord, 285. 

Claymore, Use of, 193 
Clearing House, 167. 

Clement, Joseph, 330. 

Clepsydra, The, 42. 

Cleopatra’s Needles, 324, 348. 

Clergy, Sectdar, 209. 

Cleveland, City of, 26, 


Cleveland, Pres. Grover, 26. 

Cliffs and Boulders, 234. 

Climates in the U. S., 18. 

Clipper Ships, 141. 

Clocks, Dials of our, 228; Electric, 164; First, 
41; In Japan, 43; Invention of, 42, 164; 
Twenty-four hour, 41. 

Closure, Described, 269; Origin of, 272. 

Cloth, Waterproof, 161. 

Cloth Mills, 144. 

Clover, 372. 

Clubs, History of, 352. 

Club Breton, The, 297. 

Clytemnestra, 135. 

Coagulation, 391. 

Coal, By-Products of, 148; Production of, 149; 
Weight of, 184. 

Coal Fields, American, 24; The World’s, 149. 
Coal Shaft, Deepest, 330. 

Coalition, Defined, 270. 

Coastguard, British, 143. 

Cockade, Origin of, 350. 

Cockatrice, The, 127. 

Cock-Fighting, 351. 

Cockney, The Term, 350. 

Cock Pit, The, 190, 191. 

Cockroaches, To Kill, 439. 

Codfish, Fecundity of, 227. 

Cod Liver Oil, 390. 

Coffee, Uses of, 411; As Food, 419; Consump¬ 
tion of, 140. 

Coffee House, Wills’, 338. 

Cog-Wheels, The First, 156. 

Coinage, Story of our, 187. 

Coins, Bezants, 178; Cromwellian, 177; Den¬ 
arius, 178 ; First Gold, 177 ; Japanese, 
177; Picayune, 178; Rupee, 178; Value of 
Foreign, 181. 

Cold Feet, 387. 

Colds, Care of, 387; To Break Up, 388, 297; 
How to Catch, 404; Quinine for, 410; 
Feeding of, 411. 

Colic, Treatment, 388; Wind, 389; Lead, 
400. 

College of Cardinals, 218. 

Cologne Water, 433. 

Colombia, U. S. of, 367. 

Colonial System, 271. 

Colophon of Books, 54. 

Colors, Harmony of, 162; Mixing of, 163; 

Relations of, 162; Symbolism of, 293. 
Color-Blindness, 392. 

Colosseum, The, 344. 

Colossus of Rhodes, 346. 

Columbian College Library, 122. 

Columbine, no. 

Columbus, City of, 26. 

Columbus, Discovery by, 11. 

Comets, 230. 

Comity of Nations, 271. 

Commandant, Military, 362. 
Commander-in-Chief, 364. 

Commercial Paper, 252. 

Commercial Traveler, 141. 

Commission Agents, 140. 

Committee, Defined, 271. 

Commoners, British, 361. 

Commune, The, 309. 

Communism, 312. 

Como, 392. 

Compass, The Mariner’s, 226. 

Composition, Hints on, 108. 


U. I .—30 





466 ALPHABETICAL INDEX . 


Compound Interest, Wonders of, 174; Daily 
Savings at, 174; Accumulation of, 174. 
Comus, 135. 

Concertinas, Origin of, 286. 

Concordat, Defined, 298. 

Concussion, 443. 

Condottieri, 297, 

Confederation of Rhine, 298. 

Conference, General, 209; International, 165. 
Confucius, Name of, 126. 

Congress, Duties of, 281; Journals of, 269; 

Library of, 122. 

Conservatives, 272. 

Consistories, 207. 

Constellations, The, 234. 

Consul, Office of, 365. 

Consumption, 388, 397. 

Continental System, 299. 

Continents, Area of, 368; Population of, 368. 
Contraband of War, 194. 

Contracts, Sunday, 249. 

Contracts and Agreements, 250. 

Contusions, How Healed, 442. 

Conversation, Guide to, 424; Extravagance in, 
425; Art of, 429. 

Convocation, 210. 

Conway, Hugh, 120. 

Coolies, 376. 

Cooling off, 387. 

Copernican System, 236. 

Copperas, 244. 

Copperheads, 12. 

Copyright, 119. 

Corners, Financial, 175. 

Corns, How to Cure, 433. 

Cornucopia, The, 128. 

Cornwall, Barry, 120. 

Cornwallis. 355. 

Corporal John, 361. 

Corporations, Laws of, 264; What are Close, 
269. 

Corpus Christi Day, 338. 

Correct Pronounciation, 64. 

Correct Speaking, Rules for, 57, 63. 

Corrosive Sublimate, 244. 

Corsairs, 353. 

Corso, 334. 

Cortes, The Spanish, 270. 

Corundum, 141. 

Coryza, Treatment of, 398. 

Cosmos, 229. 

Cost Marks, 172. 

Costa Rica, 367. 

Cotton, Acreage of, 139; Production of, 140; 
Spinning, 139. 

Cotton Gin, Invention of, 164. 

Coughing, Coughs, 423. 

Council of Ten, 299. 

Councils, The Great, 220. 

Count, Title of, 363. 

Counterfeiting, 177, 180. 

Countersign, Use of, 190. 

Countries, The Chief, 369; Statistics of, 369. 
Country, Our, n, 407. 

Couplet in Poetry, 112. 

Coupons, Use of, 166, 

Court Jesters, 297. 

Courts Martial, 191. 

Cousin, Jean, 292. 

Covenanters, 297. 

Covent Garden, 332. 

Coventry, Legend of, 117. 


Cradles and Graves, 343. 

Craniology, 375. 

Crayon, Geoffry, 120. 

Creches, Use of, 350. 

Creek Indians, 32; War of, 27. 

Cremation, 351. 

Crescent, The, 299. 

Crests, Use of, 363. 

Cribbage, Game of, 351. 

Cricket, Described, 350. 

Crime in United States, 20. 

Criminals, Execution of, 310. 

Crocus, 135. 

Croesus, King, 135, 334. 

Crofters, Scotch, 350. 

Cross, First Use of, 205. 

Cross Buns, 350. 

Crossing the Line, 368. 

Croton Aqueduct, 40. 

Croup, Remedies for, 406. 

Crown, The Iron, 297. 

Crown of India, Order of, 362. 

Crowned Heads, List of, 368; Salaries of, 
368. 

Crozier, 207. 

Crystal Palace, 333. 

Cubit, Measure of, 179. 

Cuddy, Ship’s, 351. 

Cumulative Voting, 270. 

Cuneiform Writing, 127. 

Cupid, 135. 

Curagoa, Product of, 143. 

Curari Poison, 350. 

Curbstone Brokers, 175. 

Curfew, 355. 

Curling, 392. 

Currency, Our First, 165; Definition of, 168; 

Different Kinds of, 165. 

Curtis, 328. 

Custom Duties, 141. 

Custom House, Largest, 140. 

Customs Union, 141. 

Cuyp, The Artist, 292. 

Cybele, 135. 

Cycle, What is a, 43. 

Cyclopean Walls, 286. 

Cyclopean Works, 375. 

Cyclops, The 135. 

Cymri, The, 328. 

Cynosure, Greek Term, 127. 

Czar of Russia’s Diamond, 370. 

Czar, The Title, 364. 

D ACOITS, Tribe of, 297. 

Daedalus, 135. 

Dagon, Worship of, 126. 

Daguerreotypes, 151. 

Daily Savings, 172. 

Daimios, Japanese, 302. 

Dais, Defined, 351. 

Daisy Flower, The, 372. 

Daltonism, 392. 

Damon, The Pythagorean, 130. 

Danaides, The, 135. 

Danbury News Man, 120. 

Dancing Mania, The, 306. 

Dandruff, Removal of, 387. 

Danebrog, The, 297. 

Daniel, 314. 

Daphne, 135. 

Darbyites, 362. 

Darien Scheme, The, 169. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


467 


Dates, American Historical, xi; To Remember, 
41 - 

Dauphin, 364. 

Da Vinci, Leonardo, 292. 

Davy Jones, 126. 

Days, Baptism of, 41; Skipped by the Sun, 45 ; 

Origin of, 49. 

Dayton, City of, 26. 

Dead Reckonings, 350. 

Death from Alcohol, 444 
“ Death Ride,” The, 196. 

Debentures, 166. 

Debts, States Without, 169; Various National, 
171; Outlawed, 250; Laws Concerning, 249. 
Decades, Our Growth by, 19. 

Decamp, Artist, 292. 

Decemvirs, The Roman, 298. 

Decimal System, The, 179. 

Decoration Day, 42. 

Dedications of Books, 109. 

Deeds, Property, 260. 

Deer Park, 327. 

Degree, Meanings of, 230. 

Deity, Names of the, 219, 

Dejanira, 135. 

Delacroix, The Artist, 292. 

Delaroche, Paul, 292. 

Delft, 332. 

Delphi, 135, 335- 
Deluge, The, 206. 

Democracy, 270. 

Democrats, Straight-out, 269. 

Demagogues, 270. 

Demurrage, 140. 

Denarius, Coin, 178. 

Denmark, 367, 369. 

Denouement, 111. 

Denver, City of, 26. 

Depilatory, Recipes for, 432. 

Derby Day, 352. 

Dervishes, 206. 

Desert, Largest, 350. 

Desert Dwellers, 215. 

Detail, Attention to, 457. 

Detroit, City of, 26. 

Deucalion, 135. 

Development, Physical, 408. 

Dextrine, 229. 

Dial, Invention of, 164. 

Diamond Necklace, The, 307. 

Diamonds, Cutting of, 155; Value of, 185; 
Largest in the World, 358; All the 
Famous, 370. 

Diana, The goddess, 135. 

Diary, 114. 

Dictionaries, 56. 

Dido, Queen, 135. 

Dies Irae, The Hymn, 208. 

Digestion, Periods of, 396. 

Dillettanti, 286. 

Diomedes, 135. 

Diphtheria, 388. 

Disinfection, 436. 

Dismal Swamp, 335. 

Dissolving Views, 289. 

Diving Bells, 164. 

Divorce, Law of, 266. 

Dobson, Walter, 292. 

Dockyards, American, 198. 

Doctors, The Best, 388; Japanese, 389. 
Doctrines, Cartesian, 207. 

Doge, Wedding of the, 302; Galley of the, 129. 


Dollar, The Silver, 171. 

Domesday Book, The, 304. 

Dominican Republic, 367. 

Donnybrook Fair, 329. 

Dore, Gustave, 293. 

Doughfaces, The, 17. 

Drawing Rooms, Conduct in, 425. 

Dresses, Incombustible, 428. 

Drink, Cost in the U. S., 20. 

Drowning, Revival from, 444. 

Druids, 380. 

Drummers, Commercial, 140. 

Dryads, Tire, 135. 

Dudley Diamond, 370. 

Duke, Title of, 360. 

Dunkirk Colleries, 330. 

Dyaks, Race of, 376. 

Dwarfs, Famous, 344; Races of, 379, 383. 

E arache, Cure of, 407. 

Earl, Title of, 361. 

Early English, Books in, 109. 

Earnings in U. S., 20. 

Earth, Measure of, 185, 246; Curvature of, 226; 

Weight of, 226; Minimum Age of, 229. 
Earthquake of Lisbon, 360. 

Earwigs, Defined, 439. 

Eastlake, Sir C. L., 292. 

Eating, Advice on, 387; Nuts for, 387; Philoso¬ 
phy of, 414. 

Echo, 135. 

Ecuador, 367, 369. 

Eddas, The, 132. 

Edifices, Noted, 371; Heights of, 371. 

Editions, Aldine, 111. 

Eggs, Beating, 388; As Food, 417; How to 
Keep Fresh, 437. 

Egotism in Society, 425. 

Egypt, Marvels of, 347; Pottery of, 349; Danc¬ 
ing Girls of, 351; Statistics of, 367 ; Ruler 
of, 369. 

Eiffel Tower, The, 155. 

El Almirante, 295. 

El Dorado, Origin of, 117. 

Electra, 135. 

Electricity, Speed of, 41; Terms in, 242; Last 
Word on, 248. 

Electric Light, Invention of, 164. 

Electrotype, Invention of, 164. 

Elephants, 227. 

Elgin Marbles, 289. 

Eliot, George, 120. 

Elysium, 135, 138. 

Emancipation of Serfs, 33. 

Emancipation of Slaves, 296. 

Emerald, The, 133. 

Empire, The Largest, 328; The German, 349. 
Empire State, The, 295. 

Enceladus, 135. 

Endymion, Sleep of, 135. 

Engine, Invention of Steam, 155. 

England, Great Seal of, 361. 

English Claimant, The, 342. 

Engravings, How to Transfer, 162; Invention 
of, 164. 

Enoch Arden, Plot of, 112. 

Entente Cordiale, 272. 

Enunciation, Poor, 58. 

Envelopes, First Use of, 139. 

Envoy, Title of, 363. 

Epigram; Explained, 53. 

Ephesus, Temple of, 346. 



468 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX . 


Epsom Salts, 244. 

Equilateral Triangles, 314, 

Equinoctial Points, 237. 

Equinoxes, What are, 237. 

Erebus, 135. 

Eric, the Red, 15. 

Ericcson, Leif, 11. 

Errors of Speech, 71. 

Eruptions, Various Skin, 391. 

Ethiopian, The, 375. 

Ethiop’s Mineral, 244. 

Ethnography, 375. 

Ethnology, 375. 

Ettrick Shepherd, 120. 

Etty, William, 328. 

Eumenides, The, 135. 

Euphrasia, 125. 

Eureka ! Origin of, 234. 

Europe, Extreme Heat in, 242; Chief Cities in, 
357- 

Euryalus, 135. 

Eurydice, 135. 

Evadne, 135. 

Evolution, Theory of, 230. 

Eye, Care of the, 412; Dirt in the, 441; Lime 
in the, 442; Iron or Steel Spiculae in the, 
442. 

Excalibur, The Sword, 116. 

Excelsior! 455. 

Exchange, Origin of, 165; Bills of, 165; Eng¬ 
lish, 165. 

Explosives, The Latest, 204. 

Express, First, 139. 

F ACADE, In Building, 289. 

Factors and Factorage, 175. 

Faed, Artist, 292. 

“ Faerie Queene,” Spenser’s, 109. 

Failure, How Avoided, 453. 

Fainting, 388,443. 

Fair Maid of Kent, The, 329. 

Fairmount Park, n. 

Falk Laws, 307. 

Fall River, City of, 26. 

Famines, Great, 366. 

Farmer’s Boy, The, 328. 

Farms, The Largest, 12; Laws of, 258. 

Fates, The, 135. 

Father of History, 295. 

Father of Medicine, 387. 

Father of Modern Painters, 283. 

Fathers of the Church, 207. 

Fathers of Their Country, 310. 

Fathom, Measure, 179. 

Fat People, 410. 

Faun!, The, 135. 

Feast, Barmecides’, no. 

Feathers, How to Wash, 428. 

Felons, Treatment of, 404. 

Fence, The Longest, 152. 

Ferguson James, 328. 

Fermiers Generaux, 303. 

Fern, Fanny, 120. 

Ferns, Symbolism of, 372. 

Festivals, Christian, 46. 

Fever, Cooling of a, 388; Malarial, Described, 
402; Typhoid, Described and Treated, 
. 399 i Typhus, 403. 

Fiery Cross, The, TT5. 

Fighting Men, Ratio of, 189. 

Fig Sunday, 43. 

Figures, Important, 19. 


Filibusters, Who are, 306. 

Fillmore, Pres. Millard, 26. 

Finding, Law of, 264. 

Fine Arts, 283. 

Fire Arms, Invention of, 164; The First, 189. 
Fire Engine, Invention of, 164. 

Fire Kindler, Thrifty, 437. 

Fire Ordeal, 378. 

Fire-Proof Wood, 161. 

Fires, Great Historic, 374; In United States, 
20; Chicago, 296. 

Fire Worship, 379. 

Fishes, Facts Concerning, 243; As Food, 417. 
Flag, The National, 12, 16. 

Flagellants, Order of, 215. 

Flamboyant, In Art, 284. 

Flax, Production of, 141. 

Flemish School. The, 292. 

Flies, Killing of, 440. 

Flood, J. C., 327. 

Floods, Great, 373. 

Flora, The goddess, 135. 

Florentine Diamond, 370. 

Florida War, 27. 

Flowers, Nectar in, 230; To Keep Fresh, 438; 

Language of, 371, 372. 

Folcland, 376. 

Folk-lore, 53; Indian, 132. 

Food, Waste of in U. S., 20 ; Composition of, 
395 ; Digestion of, 395 ; Philosophy of, 
414- 

Food Products of the World, 142, 407. 

Foot, Measure of, 179. 

Foreclosure, In Law, 261. 

Foreign Phrases Interpreted, 97-105. 

Foreigner, How to Address a, 426. 

Forepaugh, Adam, 328. 

Foreshortening, In Art, 312. 

Forfeit of Lands, 31. 

Forget-Me-Not, The, 372. 

Fortuna, The goddess, 135. 

Forty, Honors to No., 324. 

Forty Immortals, The, 1-21. 

Foster, Birket, 292. 

Fountain, The Hot Water, 154. 

Fourier, Failure of, 312. 

Fourierism, Defined, 3x2. 

Fourth Estate, The, 295. 

France, Cost of War in, 189; Five Kings of, 
313; Legislative Assembly of, 275 ; “Fa¬ 
tal Three” of, 316; The Kings of, 363; 
National Badge of, 300; Ruler and Statis¬ 
tics of, 367, 369; Voting in, 272. 
Franco-German War, 202. 

Franc-Tireurs, The French, 189. 

Frankenstein, Character of, 114. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 329. 

Fraud Pledge, 376. 

Free Soil Movement, 15. 

French Academy, Members of, 121. 

French Empire, 317. 

French Republic, Motto of, 298. 

French Revolution, 309; Calendar of, 46; Great 
Days of, 309; Leaders of the, 309. 
Frescoes, Defined, 283. 

Freyburg Mines, 333. 

Freedom of a City, 308. 

Free Thinkers, 206. 

Freezing Point, 238. 

Frith, W. P., 292. 

Frozen Music, 283. 

Fruit, as Food, 419. 




ALPHABETICAL LNDEX. 


469 


Fugitive Slave Law, 281. 

Full Age, 275. 

Fund, Sinking, 165. 

Furies, The, 135, 

Furniture, Polish for, 160; To Remove Stains 
from, 437. 

Furs, To Freshen, 428. 

Fuschia, The, 372. 

Fusing Point, 238. 

/''iELIC Tribe, The, 377. 

\JT Gainsborough, Artist, 292. 

Galatea, 136. 

Galen, Dr., 388. 

Galena, 244. 

Galleon, Description of, 142. 

Galvanized Iron, 325. 

Game, As Food, 416. 

Ganymede, 136. 

Garden, Covent, 332. 

Gardens, Hanging, 346. 

Garfield, Pres. James A., 26. 

Garnet, The, 133. 

Garter, Order of, 360. 

Garter-King-at-Arms, 360. 

Gavelkind, Law of, 377. 

Gehenna, Meaning of, 208. 

Gems, Language of, 133. 

Gem Sculpture, 284. 

Gendarmes, 195. 

Generals, Grades of, 365. 

Generals of the Army, 27. 

Generation. What is a, 41. 

Geneva, Conference at, 15. 

Genius, Definitions of, 283. 

Genre Painting, 288. 

Geranium, The, 372. 

Gericault, Artist, 292. 

German Kingdom, Emperor of, 297. 

Germany, Marriage Rate of, 389; The Origi¬ 
nal Electors of, 297; Ruler and Statistics 
of, 397, 369- 

Gerome, The Artist, 293. 

Gesia Romanorum, 116. 

Gestation, Periods of, 392. 

Gettysburg, Battle of, 199. 

Ghee, Defined, 358. 

Ghent, The City of, 331. 

Ghetto, The Roman, 334. 

Giants and Dwarfs, 344. 

Giaour, The, 117, 205. 

Gibraltar of America, 295. 

Gifts, Value of, 425; Refusal of, 425; Etiquette 
of, 426. 

Gil Bias, Story of, 114. 

Gilbert, Sir John, 282. 

Gilpin, Mishaps of John, 118. 

Gilt Frames, To Clean, 438. 

Glass, Soldering of, 158; Invention of, 164. 
Glass Bells, Inverted, 151. 

Glass Mirrors, First Use of, 151; Manufacture 
of, 15b. 

Glass Cloth, How Made, 153. 

Glass Stoppers, To Loosen, 437. 

Glauber’s Salt, 244. 

Glorious Fourth, The, 313. 

Glucose, 244. 

Gnostics, The, 206. 

Godiva, Lady, 117. 

Gold, First Discovery of, 165, 349 : Production 
of, 171; Vatican Store of, 166. 

Golden Lane, 328. 


Golden Rod, 372. 

Good Old Times, 357. 

Goodhall, F., 292. 

Goorkhas, Tribe of, 376. 

Gordius, 136. 

Gorgons, The, T36. 

Gospel, The Christian, 214. 

Goths, The Nation of, 378. 

Gould, Jay, 327. 

Graal, The Holy, 211. 

Graces, The Thret, 136. 

Grammarians, Prii.ee of, 53. 

Grand Rapids, City of, 244. 

Grandees of Spain, 364. 

“ Grand Old Gardener,” The, 360. 

Grant, Pres. U. S., 26. 

Grants of Land, 31. 

Gravitation, Theory of, 230. 

Great Britain, Titles of, 362; Ruler and Statis¬ 
tics of, 367, 369. 

Great Fire, The, 303. 

Great Mogul Diamond, 355. 

Great Seal, The, 361. 

Great Wonders, Seven, 314. 

Greece, Facts About, 367, 369. 

Greek Paintings, 284. 

Greenbacks, First, 170. 

Greenwood, Grace, 120. 

Grenades, Hand, 160. 

Gretna Green, 330. 

Griffin, The Fabulous, 129. 

Grub Street, Interpreted, 112. 

Guanahani, Isle of, 11, 

Guanchos, The, 375. 

Guatemala, 367, 369. 

Guelfs, The, 302. 

Guerillas, 191. 

Guide to Civil Service, 27. 

Guide to Pronunciation, 69. 

Guido, The Painter, 292. 

Guillotine, The, 305. 

Guinea, The Coin, 178. 

Gun, The Armstrong, 191; The Chassepot, 
190; The Needle, 190. 

Gun Powder, Invention of, 164. 

Gunter’s Chain, 179. 

Gymnastics, 408. 

Gypsies, The, 126, 385. 

H The Letter, 324. 

y Habitation, The Highest, 328. 

Hades, 138, 210. 

Haikwan Tael, The, 179. 

Hair, Brushes for the, 432; Invigorators for, 
432; Shampoo of, 432; The Human, 389; 
Tricopherous for, 432 ; W’eight of, 391. 
Halo, In Art, 284. 

Hamilton, Gail, 120. 

Hanging, 444. 

Hanging Gardens, 346. 

Hanseatic League, 301. 

Harbors, The Finest, 149. 

Hari-kari, 360. 

Harland, Marion, 120. 

Harleian MSS., The, 116. 

Haroun al-Raschid, 331. 

Harp, The, 283. 

Harpies, The, 136. 

Harrison, Pres. W. H,, 26. 

Harrison, Pres. Benj., 26. 

Hartford Convention, 272. 

Harvard, Foundation of, no. 



470 


ALPHABETICAL LNDEX. 


Hartshorn, Spirits of, 244. 

Harvests, The, 45. 

Harvey, Dr , 387. 

Hastings, Battle of, 199. 

Hawaii, 367. 

Hayes, Pres. R. B., 26. 

Hayti, Republic of, 367. 

Headaches, Cure of, 387. 

Health, Value of, 409; Secrets of, 409; Sundry 
Hints on, 410. 

Hebe, 136. 

Hebrew Race, 383. 

Hecatomb, Definition of, 131. 

Hector, 136. 

Hecuba, 136. 

Helena, 136. 

Heliography, Genesis of, 247. 

Hellenists, 53. 

Hemorrhages, 442; Of the Lungs and Stomach, 
389- 

Henry’s Lake, 340. 

Hercules, 136. 

Heredity, 228. 

Hermione, 136. 

Heathens, Gods of the, 134. 

Hesperides, The, 136. 

Hesperus, 136. 

Hetman, Rank of, 190. 

Hierarchy, Catholic, 218. 

High Seas, Meaning of, 144. 

Hippodrome, What is a, 128. 

Hindoos, The, 371. 

History, Chinese, 349; Chinese Beginnings, 
125; Great Famines of, 366; In Rhyme, 
311; Myths of, 297; The Ages of, 49; 
Great Colds in, 242. 

Hittites, The, 381. 

Hivites, The, 379. 

Hoarseness, Cure for, 397. 

Hogarth, Satires of, 286, 292. 

Holbein, Hans, 292. 

Holdings, Laws of, 258. 

Holidays, In U. S., 50. 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 327. 

Holy Alliance, The, 215. 

Home, Hearth and, 421, 460. 

Homestead Laws of U. S., 30. 

Homeopathy, 387, 391. 

Honduras, 367, 369. 

Hong Kong, 330. 

Horse, Drawing Strength of, 235; Capacity of, 

3s6 ' t 

Horsely, J. C., 292. 

Hospital, Foundling, 387. 

Hospitallers, Order of, 212. 

Hotels and Inns, Laws on, 263. 

Hottentots, The, 379. 

Hot Water, Value of, 406. 

Howe Glass, The, 42. 

House of Commons, 269. 

Household and Toilet, 421, 460. 

Houses, Roman, 389. 

Hue and Cry, The Phrase, 353. 

Human Body, Wonders of the, 407. 

Human Family, The Great, 384; Worship of 
the, 220; Grand Total of, 374. 

Hunger, Cause of, 394. 

Hunkers, The, 17 
Huns, The, 376. 

Huntingdon, D., 292. 

Hunt, W. M., 292. 

Hyacinth, 372. 


Hyacinthus, 136. 

Hydra, 136. 

Hydraulics, Facts in, 246. 

H-ygiene, 388. 

Hyksos, The, 383. 

Hymen, 136. 

Hyperion, 136. 

Hypnotism, Power of, 236. 

Hysterics, 443. 

I The Letter, 321. 

j Ibis, The Sacred, 130. 

Icarius, 136. 

Ice, Strength of, 226. 

Icelandic Explorers, 15. 

Iconoclasts, Work of, 299. 

Ides, What are the, 44. 

Idris, The Welsh, 129. 

Ignatius Loyola, 349. 

Ignis Fatuus, The, 232. 

Iliad, Summarized, 113. 

Ill Breeding, 424. 

Illiteracy in U. S., 20. 

Illuminati, The, 299. 

Illumination, 289. 

Immigrants, Nationality of, 25. 

Immigration to U. S., 24. 

Imperial Order, The, 362. 

Impressionists, The, 291. 

Improvements, Laws of, 258. 

Improvisatori, 288. 

Incas, Meaning of, 361. 

India, Overland Route to, 145; Harvests in, 
329; Crown of. Order, 362. 

Indian Mutiny, 200. 

Indian Reservations, 32. 

Indianapolis, City of, 26. 

Indians, Numbers of, 32; The Aymara, 376; 

Reservations for, 32. 

Indian Territory, The, 269. 

India Rubber, Source of, 145. 

Indorsement, In Law, 165. 

Industry, The Canning, 139. 

Infallibility, Papal, 217. 

Infante, The Spanish, 361. 

Influenza, 390. 

Ink, Indelible, 437. 

Insanity, 391. 

Insects, To Destroy, 427, 440. 

Insomnia, 397. 

Insurance, Life, 167, 349; Definition of, 168. 
Intaglio, In Art, 285. 

Interest, Short Rules of, 173; Wonders of 
Compound, 174. 

International Arbitration, 271. 

Intoned Poetry, 286. 

Inundations, Famous, 373. 

Inventions, Synopsis of, 64. 

Io, The goddess, 136. 

Iphigenia, 136. 

Ireland, The Forger, 340. 

Iron Chancellor, The, 331. 

Iron Crown, The, 305. 

Iron Duke, The, 361. 

Iron Pyrites, 244. 

Ironclad Oath, The, 271. 

Ironsides, 335, 

Iris, 136. 

Isabella of France, 329. 

Ishmael, The Warrior, 189. 

Isis, The Egyptian goddess, 127, 136. 

Italy, 367, 369. 




ALPHABETICAL LNDEX. 


47i 


Ivanhoe, Romance of, 124. 

Ivy, 372. 

Ixion, 136. 

J ACK The Giant Killer, 125. 

Jackson, Andrew, 26,327. 

Jackson Park, 36. 

Jacobins, 297. 

Jacobites, 304. 

James River, 16. 

Jamestown, Va., 11. 
anissaries, 196. 
anus, 136. 

apan. Clocks in, 43; Coinage of, 177; Statis¬ 
tics of, 367, 369. 

Jar, The Leyden, 225. 

Jasmine, 372. 

Jason, 136. 

Jayhawkers, The, 296. 

Jefferson, Pres. Thomas, 26. 

Jerusalem Artichokes, 324. 

Jesuits, Order of, 349. 

Jeunesse Doree, 356. 

Jeweler’s Putty, 244. 

Jewish Sanhedrim, 316. 

Jingoism, 352. 

Johnson, Pres. Andrew, 26. 

Jove, The Statue of, 346. 

Junius, Letters of, 114. 

Juno, The goddess, 136. 

Jupiter and the Eagle, 125; And the Titans, 
125; Rank of, 136. 

Jupiter’s Satellites, 230, 

K AABA, The, 217. 

Kaleidoscope, Invention of, 164. 

Kansas City, 26. 

Kearsarge, The Steamer, 17. 

Kerr, Orpheus C., 120. 

Khedive, Title of, 295, 364. 

King Maker, The, 361. 

Kings, Five Converted, 296; Of England, 320; 
Of France, 363. 

King of Portugal’s Diamond, 370. 

Kite-Flying, 175. 

Knickerbocker, D., 120. 

Knight, Title of, 360. 

Knight Service, 295. 

Know Nothings, The, 17, 273. 

Koh-i-noor, The, 358, 370. 

Koran, The Mahommedan, 209. 

Koumiss, Proddction of, 144. 

Ku-Klux-Klan, The, 275. 

Kulturkampf, The Term, 208. 

L A BELLE Alliance, 338. 

Lac or Lakh, The Term, 166. 

Laconisms, Defined, 55. 

Lacrosse, Game of, 355. 

Lacustrian Period, 377. 

Lake Dwellers, 377. 

Lakes, The Largest, 40; Henry’s, 340; Queen 
of the, 337; Windermere, 337. 

Lake Superior, 40. 

Lampoon and Pasquinade, 269. 

Lame Duck, 175. 

Lamp, The Davy, 230. 

Land League, The, 303. 

Landlord and Tenant Laws, 257. 

Lands, Alien Holders of, 30, Measurement of, 
50; Pre-emption of, 17 Public, 31; Still 
Vacant, 32; Title to U. S., 31. 


Landseer, Sir E., 292. 

Landwehr, Meaning of, 193. 

Languages, The Oriental, 53; Beginnings of, 
53; Characteristics of, 54; The Chief, 57; 
Differences of, 375; Number of, 53; Of 
Gems, 133; Pliable, 68; Romance, 53; 
Sanscrit, 55; Stock Broker’s, 174; Volapiik, 
54- 

Laocoon, The, 136, 284. 

Lares, 137. 

Latin Union, 178. 

Latitude and Longitude, 240. 

Laughing Gas, 244. 

Laureates, The Latest, no, 115. 

La Vendee, Rising in, 298. 

Lavender Water, 434. 

Law, Definition of, 249; Business, 249; Lien, 
259; On Many Subjects, 249-262. 

Lazaretto, 390. 

Lead, Black, 229; Compression of, 227. 

Lead Pipes, Protection of, 161. 

Lean People, 410. 

Leather, Industry of, 140; Manufacture of, 
141; Process of Coloring, 153; Tariff on, 
140. 

Legion of Honor, The, 303. 

Leif Ericsson, 11, 15. 

Lepers, Number of, 394. 

Leprechaun, The Irish, 125. 

Lesghians, The, 375. 

Lethe, River of, 137. 

Letters, The Greek, 56; Of Junius, 114; Les¬ 
sons of the, 319. 

Letter-Writing, Art of, 63. 

Letters of Credit, 167. 

Lettre de Cachet, The, 299. 

Lexington, Battle of, 189. 

Liberia, Republic of, 367, 369. 

Libraries, Bodleian, 122; British Museum, 
122; Some Large, 122; The Alexandrian, 
109; The Astor, 122; The National, 122. 

Lictors, The, 361. 

Life Average, 389. 

Life Insurance, 167. 

Lightning, Conductors for, 164, 240; Stroke of, 
444; Why Zig Zag, 226. 

Lightning Rods, First Use of, 151. 

Lily of the Valley, 372. 

Lime, 244. 

Lincoln,Assassination of,349; Presidency of,26. 

Liquors, Alcohol in, 144; Arrack, 146; Cura- 
Qoa, 143; Koumiss, 144; Rum, 142. 

Lists, Of Abbreviations, 105, 107; Christian 
Names, 66, 68; Errors of Speech, 71; 
Foreign Phrases, 97, 105; Foreign Quo¬ 
tations, 97, 105; Great Inventions, 164; 
Olympian Deities, 134; Twelve Thousand 
Synonyms and Antonyms, 73, 97. 

Litany, The Prayer, 210. 

Literature, Specimens of Best, no; The Testi¬ 
mony of, 224. 

Lithography, Invention of, 164. 

Little Corporal, The, 361. 

Little Giant, The, 269. 

Little Mac, 270. 

Local Names, Curious, 345. 

Locofocos, The, 17. 

Locomotive, Invention of, 164; Largest, 158. 

Logogram, Explained, 55. 

Lombardian School, The, 292. 

London, Fleet Street in, 327; The Great Fire 
of, 303; Population of, 




472 


ALPHABETICAL LNDEX . 


London Wall, 327. 

Long-bow, 189. 

Longevity, 393. 

Longitude and Latitude, 240. 
Longitude and Time, 41, 42. 

Looking Backward, 312. 

Looking Glass, Manufacture of, 156. 
Lord Protector, The, 360. 

Lords of Appeal, 360. 

Lords Spiritual, 361. 

Lords Temporal, 361. 

Lorelei, Story of, 113. 

Lost Day, The, 45. 

Louisville, City of, 26. 

Lowell, City of, 26. 

Lucky Numbers, 321. 

Lucifer, 137. 

Luna, The goddess, 137. 

Lunar, Caustic, 244. 

Lupercalia, Feasts of, 137. 

Luray Cavern, 13. 

Lusatia, 376. 

Lutzen, Battle of, 199. 

Luxemburg, 367. 

Lyall, Edna, 120. 

Lydians, The, 177. 

Lynn, Mass., Industries of, 141. 
Lyric, Title of, 113. 


M THE Letter, 325. 

> Macadamized Pavement, 152. 

Mac and 0 ., 55. 

Mace, The Official, 193. 

Machiavelli, 295. 

Machines, Invention of Calculating, 167; In¬ 
fernal, 193. 

Mad Cavalier, The, 360. 

Madagascar, Isle of, 367. 

Madison, Pres. James, 26. 

Madonna, The, 287. 

Madrigal, Meaning of, 112. 

Maelstrom, The, 329, 330. 

Magellan, Fernando, 329. 

Magna Charta, 306. 

Magyars, Race of, 375. 

Mahrattas, Tribe of, 377. 

Malbone, Artist, 292. 

Mammoth Cave, 16, 40, 342. 

Man, Weight of, 395; Stature of, 395. 

Man in the Iron Mask, 328, 333, 341. 

Man of Blood and Iron, The, 331. 

Mandarin, Title of, 361. 

Mansion, Largest, 157; Costliest, 157. 

Maps, Geographical, 164. 

Marabouts, The. 205. 

Marathon, Battle of, 199. 

Marble, Parian. 285; Elgin, 289. 

Market Prices, 172. 

Marks, Cost, 172. 

Mars, God of War, 137. 

Marseillaise, The, 304. 

“ Marshal Forward,” 361. 

Marquis, Title of, 361. 

Marvelous Watch, The, 152. 

Marriage, Laws of, 266. 

Married Women, Rights of, 267. 

Mason and Slidell, 14. 

Matches, Invention of, 139, 164. 

Matsys, Quentin, 292. 

Mausoleum, 346. 

Mayflower, Passengers of the, 15, 18. 


Measures, Apothecaries, 182; Circular, 182; 
Cloth, 182; Cubic, 182; Domestic, 181; 
Dry, 182; Imperial, 182; Liquid or Wine, 
182; Long, 182; Meaning of, 182; Metric, 
182; Metric Tables, 183; Miscellaneous, 
182; Of Capacity, 186; Of Casks or Bar¬ 
rels, 186; Of Cisterns, 186 ; Of Grain, 186; 
Of Land, 186; Of Time, 182; Square, 182; 
Surveyor’s, 182. 

Medea, 137. 

Medicine, First Practitioners of, 225; Intro¬ 
duction of, 387. 

Mehemed Ali, 295. 

Meissonier, 29c. 

Melodrama, Defined, 283. 

Memnon’s Statue, 126; History, 137. 

Memorial Day, 42. 

Memory, A Good, 426. 

Memphis, City of, 27. 

Menelaus, 137. 

Mentor, 137. 

Mephistopheles, 211. 

Mercator’s Projection, 229. 

Mercury, Production of, 140. 

Mercury, The God, 137. 

Meredith, Owen, 120. 

Metals, Weights of, 181. 

“ Me, too,” The Expression, 270. 

Mexican War, 191. 

Mexico, Idols of, 208; Ruler and Statistics of, 

367. 369- 

Miami Indians, 31. 

Michael Angelo, 284. 

Microscope, Invention'of, 164. 

Midas, 137. 

Midianites, Tribe of, 378. 

Mieris, The Artist, 292. 

Mignonette, 372. 

Mileage, Railway, 147. 

Miles Standish, Courtship of, 116. 

Milk as Food, 416. 

Milky Way, The, 227. 

Millais, J. E., 292. 

Miller, Hugh, 327. 

Miller, Joaquin, 120. 

Millet, The Artist, 292. 

Mills, Cloth, 144. 

Mill-Stones, First, 139. 

Milton, Blunders of, 109. 

Milwaukee, City of, 26. 

Mind Reading, 237. 

Minerva, The goddess, 137. . 

Mines, Freyburg, 333. 

Mining Shaft, The Deepest, 329. 

Minneapolis, City of, 26. 

Minnesingers, 113. 

Minotaurs, 137. 

Mint, Coining at the, 177. 

Mirrors, First of Glass, 151. 

Misnomers, Curious, 324. 

Missal and Breviary, 214. 

Mississippi Bubble, 170. 

Mississippi Trade, Value of, 141. 

Mnemosyne, The goddess, 137. 
Mohammedanism, Creed of, 209; Purgatory 
of, 208. 

Moidore, The Coin, 177. 

Mojaves, Tribe of, 211. 

Mold, Prevention of, 436. 

Molly Maguires, The, 359. 

Momus, The god, 137. 

Monaco, Republic of, 336. 



ALPHABE TICAL INDEX. 


473 


Monarchs Who Abdicated, 310. 

Monastic Vows, 206. 

Money, Circulation of, 167; Continental, 166; 
Love of, 166; Meaning of, 165; Paper, 
165; Pine Tree, 166; Secret Service, 271. 
Monkshead, 372. 

Monoliths, The Most Noted, 158. 

Monotheism, 206. 

Monroe, Pres James, 26. 

Monsieur de Paris, 296. 

Montagnards, The French, 300. 

Montenegrins, Race of, 382. 

Montenegro, 367, 369. 

Montezuma, 380. 

Months, Dutch Names for, 44; Names of the, 
48; Roman Names for, 44; The World’s 
Harvest, 45. 

Monument, The Highest, 153, 

Moorish or Moresque, In Art, 287. 

Moors, The Race of, 378. 

Mormons, Society of, 221 ; Book of, 22T. 
Morocco, Empire of, 367, 369. 

Morpheus, 137. 

Morris, William, 329. 

Mortality of Medical Men, 390. 

Mortgages, Land, 261; Chattel, 261 ; Laws of, 
262. 

Mosaics, In Art, 285. 

Mosquitoes, Remedy for, 438. 

Moths, To Prevent, 439. 

Mossbacks, 296. 

Mound Builders, 382. 

Mountain Peaks, Heights of, 243. 

Mountains, Highest Ranges, 349. 

Mount Stuart, 157. 

Mount Vernon, 331. 

Mount Washington, 432. 

Mucilage, Commercial, 435. 

Mufti, Rank of, 363. 

Mulready, The Artist, 292. 

Miinchhausen, Baron, 335. 

Muriate of Lime, 244. 

Murillo, The Artist, 292. 

Muscadins, The, 356. 

Mushroom, The Fairy’s, 125. 

Muses, The Nine, 137, 

Music, Story of, 290; Terms Used in, 294; 

Notes in, 151; Masters of, 285. 

Musical Notes, First Use of, 151. 

Musical Terms, Meaning of, 294. 

Musicians, The Great Modern, 285. 

Muskets, Flint Lock, 189. 

Muta, 137. 

Myrtle, 372. 

Mythology, Of the Ancients, 134; Scandina¬ 
vian, 125. 

N aiades, The, i 37 . 

Names, Female, 67; Male, 66; Mean¬ 
ings of Christian, 66; Of the States, 21. 
Napoleon of the East, 296. 

Napoleon III., 295. 

Narcissus, 137. 

Nashville, City of, 26. 

Nasby, Petroleum V., 120. 

Nation of Shopkeepers, The, 295. 

Nation, The Scattered, 385. 

National Assembly, The French, 269. 

National Debts, 171. 

National French Library, 122. 

National Tricolors, 313. 

Nationale of Paris, 352. 


Natural Bridge, 40. 

Nausea, Treatment for, 388. 

Navies of the U. S., 13. 

Navy Commanders, 363. 

Nebular Hypothesis, 244. 

Nectar of the gods, 129, 

Needle Threader, Invention of, 152. 
Negotiable Paper, 250, 252. 

Nemesis, The Avenger, 137. 

Nepaul, 367. 

Neptune, The god, 137. 

Nervous Spasms, 388. 

Nestor, 137. 

Netherlands, The, 367, 769. 

Neuralgia, Cure for, 387, 396. 

Neutrality, Armed, 190. 

New England, Discovery of, 11, 15. 

Newark, City of, 26. 

Newspapers, First English, no; First in all 
Lands, 123; In Russia, m ; Of India, m ; 
Some Famous, 123; The Oldest, n ; Total 
Number of, 352. 

Newton, Birth of, 225. 

New York City, 26, 271. 

Ney, The Famous Marshal, 189. 

Niagara, Horse Power of, 225. 

Niagara Falls, 40, 333 339. 

Nibelungen Lied, Plot of the, r 3 T , 3 88 - 
Nicaragua, 367, 369. 

Nicknames of States, etc,, 22; Famous Na¬ 
tional, 23. 

Nicotine, Properties of, 388; Manufacture of, 
140. 

Nightingale, Turkish Name for, no 
Night Sweats, To Cure, 388. 

Nihilism, 206. 

Nijni-Novgorod, Fair of, 143, 334. 

Nimbus, In Art, 284. 

Nine, Curiosities of Number, 326. 

Nine Worthies, The, 336. 

Nine Worthy Women, The, 314. 

Niobe, The Tearful, 137. 

Nitre, 244. 

Nocturnal Animals, 233. 

Nocturne, In Music, 287. 

Nones, 44. 

Non-importation Act, The, 145. 

Non-intercourse Act, 272. 

Norseman, Bible of the, 132. 

Northmen, The, 132, 378. 

Norway, Voters in, 270. 

Norway and Sw r eden, 367, 369. 

Nose, Bleeding from, 396, 443. 

- Notch, The, 331. 

Notes, Circular or Bank, 166; Commercial, 252. 
Nowhere, Sir T. More’s, 115. 

Nox, Old, 137. 

Numbers, Lucky and Unlucky, 321. 
Numismatics, Study of, 188. 

Nutrition in Certain Foods, 395. 

O AK, Sacredness of the, 372 418. 

Oats, as Food, 418. 

Obelisks, the Great, 158; The Oldest, 348. 
Oberlin College, 11. 

Obscurity in Writing, 108. 

Ocean Depths, Cold of the, 227; Growths in, 
228; Life in, 235, The Greatest Measure 
of, 229. 

Oceanides, The, 137. 

Oceanus, 137. 

Occupation, Choice of, 454. 





474 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


O’Donoghue’s White Horse, 126. 

O’Dowd, Cornelius, 120. 

GEdipus, 137. 

Oil Spring, The Lunatic, 332. 

Oil of Vitriol, 244. 

Olaf Redbeard, 313. 

“ Old Hickory,” 269. 

Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, 332. 

Old Slavonic, 364, 

Olympiads, The, 44. 

Olympic Games, 44. 

Olympus, Location of, 125; Deities and Heroes 
of, 134. 

Omaha, City of, 26. 

Oman, Sultanate of, 367, 369. 

Omphale, 137. 

One Million Dollars, Weight of, 166. 

Onions, Odor of, 388. 

Onyx, The, 133. 

Opal, The, 133. 

Opium, 393. 

Opportunists, The Term, 270. 

Optic, Oliver, 120. 

Orange Blossoms, 372. 

Orange Free State, 367. 

Orange, Principality of, 295. 

O’Rell, Max, 120. 

Orchestra, In Music, 284. 

Ordeal, The Water, 304; The Fire, 304. 

Order of the Bath, 361. 

Orders, Sealed, 191. 

Orestes, 130. 

Organ, Invention of, 164. 

Organs, First Use of, 349. 

Orion, The Star, 125. 

Orloff Diamond, 370. 

Ornaments, Bog Oak, 155. 

Orpheus, 137. 

Orthodoxy, 206. 

Ostrich Farming, 140. 

Ostrogoths, Nation of the, 381. 

Ouida, 120. 

Oukaz, The Term, 271. 

Ouless, W. W., 292. 

Overbeck, F., 292. 

Overland Route, The, 145. 

Ovid, Sandys’, 109. 

Oxford University, 328. 

Oxygen, Discovery of, 387. 

P ACHA, Title of, 360. 

Pacha of Egypt Diamond, 370. 

Pagan gods, The, 134. 

Paganism, Gods and Heroes of, 134. 

Pagan Priests, 135. 

Paine, Thomas, Patriotism of, 13. 

Pains, Side, 388. 

Painter of Nature, The, 283. 

Paintings, Marvelous, 290. 

Paints, Luminous, 162; Mixing of, 162. 

Pairing Off, 269. 

Palaeolithic Age, The, 377. 

Palladium, Meaning of, 137, 271. 

Palm Sunday, 43. 

Pan, The god, 137. 

Pandours, The Fierce, 295. 

Panics, Financial, 172, 

Panslavism, Meaning of, 297. 

Pansy, The, 372. 

Paper, Invention of, 151; Rice, 325; Collars, 
154; of Glass, 153. 

Paradise of Europe, The, 295. 


Paraguay, Figures on, 367, 369. 

Paraguayan War, The, 390. 

Parian Marble, 285. 

Paris, Son of Priam, 137. 

Parks, Deer, 327; Fairmount, 328; The 
Largest, 328; St. James’, 339. 

Parley, Peter, 120. 

Parliamentary Law, Condensed, 279. 

Parnassus, 137. 

Parole, In Military Life, 194. 

Parsees, Faith of, 205. 

Particularists, The Term, 270. 

Parties, Minor Political, 17. 

Parting Counsels, 463. 

Partnership, Liability of, 250; Laws of, 254; 

A Famous Literary, no. 

Passengers, The Mayflower’s, 18. 

Passion Flower, 372. 

Passion Play, The, 205. 

Paste, Razor Strop, 433; For Papering, Boxes, 
434 ; Scrap Books, 434; Sugar, 435; Paper 
and Leather, 435 ; For Sundry Uses, 435. 
Patent Office, Work of the, 29. 

Patterson, City of, 26. 

Pavement, Macadamized, 152. 

Pay, Soldiers’, 191. 

Peace Pipe, The, 192. 

Peale, Rembrandt, 292. 

Pearls, Where Found, 229; American, 229. 
Peerage, Ranks of the, 365. 

Pegasus, 137. 

Peine Forte et Dure, 307. 

Penates, 137. 

Pendulum, Invention of, 42. 

Penelope’s Web, 125; Her History, 137. 
Penny-Wise, 172. 

Perigee, The Moon’s, 225. 

Perihelion, The, 225. 

Permissive Bill, The, 269, 

Perpetual Snow, 225. 

Persecutions, The Ten, 206. 

Perseus, 1^7. 

Persons, Temperature of, 226 
Persia, 367, 369. 

Peru, Republic of, 367, 369. 

Perugino, 292. 

Perspiratory Glands, 232. 

Peruvian Masonry, 284. 

Peter Cooper, A Story of, 170. 

Petits-Maitres, 356. 

Petrovitsch, Kara George, 334. 

Pettie, John, 292. 

Phaeton, 137. 

Phantom Ship, The, 118. 

Pharos of Alexandria, The, 346. 

Phenomena, Scientific, 228. 

Philippi, Battle of, 199. 

Philology, Science of, 53; Defined, 375. 
Philomela, 137. 

Philosopher, The Laughing, 329 
Philosopher’s Stone, The, 233. 

Philosophy, Inductive, 225; Meaning of, 225. 
Phineas, 137. 

Phoebus, The god, 138. 

Phonograph, Invention of, 151, 163. 
Photographs, The First, 349. 

Photography, Invention of, 164. 

Phrases, The Foreign, 97-105; Political, 270; 

Stock Market, 173. 

Physical Training, 

Piano, Polish for, 160. 

Pianoforte, Invention of, 164. 



ALPIIABE TIC A L INDEX. 


475 


Picayune, The Coin, 178. 

Pierce, Pres. Franklin, 26. 

Pigments, The Blue, 142. 

Pigott Diamond, The, 370. 

Pilgrim Fathers, 15, 18. 

Pilgrim’s Progress, The, 124, 328. 

Pindar, Peter, J20. 

Pipes, Protection of Lead, 161; Thawing Out 
Water, 436. 

Pins, First Used, 152; Sticking of, 155, 

Pisa, Leaning Tower of, 340. 

Pitch, Lake of, 142. 

Pitt, Diamond, The, 370. 

Plagues, Modern, 366. 

Planets, Collision of, 228; Conjunction of, 234; 

Symbolism of, 314. 

Plants, Breathing of, 227. 

Plaster, Repairing, 438. 

Plato’s Republic, 312. 

Pleiades, The, 137. 

Pluto and his Realm, 138. 

Plymouth Company, The, 12. 

Plymouth Rock, Landing at, 18. 

Pneumatic Railway, 164. 

Pocahontas, Story of, 16. 

Poetry,Alliterative,323 ; Artof,no; Didactic,53, 
109; The Father of, 109; History in, 311; 
Lyric, 53,112; Pastoral, no; Wordsworth’s 
Definition of, no. . 

Poets-Laureate, The, 115. 

Poison Stings, Antidotes for, 444. 

Police, Derivation of, 360. 

Polish for Furniture, 160; For Pianos, 160. 
Political Parties, Minor, 17. 

Polk, Pres. James K., 26. 

Pomona, 138. 

Pompey’s Pillar, 325. 

Popes, Nationality of the, 218. 

Popocatapetl, 329. 

Population, Increase of, 19; Center of in U, S., 
19; of Fifty Cities, 26; of Chief Countries, 
369- 

Porcelain, Soldering of, 158. 

Ports, The Cinque, 330. 

Portugal, Kingdom of, 367, 369. 

Positivism, Explained, 236. 

Postage Stamps, 139, 349. 

Postal Information, Condensed, 150. 

Potash, 244. 

Potato Bug, The, 144. 

Powder, For Fire-arms, 164. 

Poynter, E. J., 292. 

Practical Jokes, 422. 

Praetorian Guard, The, 302. 

Predecessors, Our Nation’s, 383. 

Preemption of Land, 17. 

Pre-Raphaelite, The Art Term, 288. 

Presents, Of Accepting, 425; The Art of 
Giving, 424; Etiquette of, 426. 

Prester John, 337. 

Presidential Election, 277 

Presidents, Cradles and Graves of, 343; Creeds 
of the, 221; Parties that Elected, 281; 
Succession of U. S., 26. 

Priam, 138. 

Prickly Heat, Cure for, 433. 

Priests, The Pagan, 125; The Greek, 205. 
Primrose, The, 372. 

Primrose League, The, 297. 

Prince of Wales, Crest of, 313. 

Printing, Invention of, 152, 164. 

Prisons, Andersonville, 190 


Prizilram, 329. 

Products, Food, 407. 

Progress, Weapons of, 453. 

Proletariate, The, 354. 

Prometheus, 138. 

Pronunciation, Correctness in, 69; Poor, 57; 
Rules of, 70. 

Property, Transfer of, 260; Assignments of, 
262; Laws on Various Kinds, 261. 
Proserpine, 138. 

Proteus, 138. 

Proudhon, Axiom of, 313. 

Prout, Father, 120. 

Provost, The Scotch, 360. 

Psalm, An Omitted, 223. 

Pseudonyms, Scholastic, 119; Literary, 341; 

Political and Historical, 342. 

Psyche, 137. 

Psychology, 237. 

Public Lands, 31, 32. 

Public School, The First, 12, 349. 

Puck, Who is, 125. 

Pulse, Rate of the, 390; The Human, 413. 
Pultowa, Battle of, 199. 

Punctuality, Merit of, 424. 

Punctuation, Correct, 64. 

Punishment of Criminals, 357. 

Purana, 129. 

Pygmies, The, 379; TheWambutti, 379. See 
also Dwarfs, 138. 

Pyramid, The Great, 158, 

Pyramus and Thisbe, 138. 

Pythias, The Noble, 130. 

Python, The, 138. 

Q UEEN of Roads, The, 157. 

Queen of the Lakes, 337. 

Quincy, Josiah, 339. 

Quinine, Source of, 140. 

Quotations, Foreign, 97, 105. 

R ABBITS of Australia, The, 227. 

Races, American, 375; The Bechuanas, 
377; The Caucasian, 375; The Dwarfs, 377, 
379,383; The Ethiopian, 375; The Five, 
375; The Hyksos, 383; The Malay, 375; 
The Mongolian, 375; The Pygmie, 379; 
The Teutonic, 379; Unity of the, 385. 
Rack, Indian, 146, 308. 

Railroads, American, 23; Electric, 329; Horse, 
139; Invention of, 164; Pneumatic, 164; 
Wonders of, 23. 

Railway, The Electric, 329. 

Rainmaking, Ether in, 229. 

Rats, How to Expel, 160. 

Reading, Love for, 54; Copious, 109. 

Real, The Coin, 179. 

Red Head, 244. 

Regiments, Organization of, 189. 

Registers, Hot Air, 387. 

Regnault, Artist, 293. 

Reichsrath, The German, 273. 

Reichstag, The German, 273. 

Reid, Whitelaw, 328. 

Reign of Terror, 1-89, 296. 

Relief, In Art, 289. 

Religion, As a Science, 223 ; The Chinese, 208; 
What is a State, 222; Various Notes on, 
205-224. 

Rembrandt, The Painter, 285. 

Remus of Rome, 138. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX . 


476 


Renaissance in Art, 284. 

Representatives, House of, 282. 

Reptile Bureaucracy, The 296. 

Republic, The Oldest, 336; The Smallest, 336. 
Reservations for the Indians, 32. 

Return Ball, Invention of, 152. 

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 292. 

Revolution, The French, 189. 

Rhetoric, Art of, 53; Definition of, 53. 
Rheumatism, 401; Treatment of, 402. 

Rice, As Food, 418. 

Rifle Ball, Speed of the, 189. 

Rigging, A Ship’s, 157. 

Rio de Janeiro, Silver of, 330. 

Rip Van Winkle, 132. 

Rivers, The Great, 143 ; Basin of, 229. 

River Systems, The Largest, 237. 

Robert the Devil, 361. 

Robin Goodfellow, who is, 125. 

Robinson Crusoe, Condensed, 123, 

Rock, Curious Formation of, 330. 

Rock Bridge, 328. 

Rock of Refuge, The 331. 

Rock Salt, The Deepest, 327. 

Rococo, In Art, 283. 

Roller Skate, Invention of, 153. 

Rolls, Master of the, 361. 

Roman Republic, Magistrates of, 365. 

Romans, The, 377. 

Rome, The Founder of, 349. 

Romulus and Remus, 138. 

Rooms, Damp, 387. 

Rose, Symbolism of the, 372. 

Rosebud, Moss, 372. 

Rossetti, D. G., 292. 

Rose Water, 434. 

Roumania, 367, 369. 

Roundheads, The, 304. 

Round Robin, 3^2. 

Round Table, King Arthur's, 127, 297. 

Round Towers, Irish, 128. 

Route, The Overland, 145. 

Rubens, Painter, 292. 

Rubber Boots, 160. 

Rubicon, The, 295, 334. 

Ruby, The, 133. 

Rule of the Road, 359. 

Rulers of all Nations, 367. 

Rules, to Calculate Interest, 173; For Measur¬ 
ing Corn, 187; For Measuring Hay in 
Mow, 187; Measuring Vegetables, 187. 
Ruling Machine, 164. 

Rum, How Made, 143. 

Rupee, The Coin, 178. 

Russia, Serfdom in, 33; Christianity of, 328; 

Statistics of, 367, 369. 

Russo-Turkish Wars, 201. 

Rust of Iron, 244. 

Ruysdael, Artist, 292, 

QT. AUGUSTINE, Fla., xx. 

vj St. Brendan, 12. 

St. Crispin’s Day, 336. 

St. Elmo’s Fire, 231. 

St. Eloi, 284. 

St. Gothard, -429. 

St. Helena, Island of, 331. 

St, James, Order of, 363. 

St. James’ Palace, 339. 

St. James’ Park, 339 
St. Mark’s Cathedral, 284. 

St. Peter, Patrimony of, 296. 


St. Peter’s, Rome, 151, 155. 

St. Simon, Imprisonment of, 312. 

St. Sophia Cathedral, 328. 

St. Swithin’s Day, 43. 

St. Valentine’s Day, 44. 

St. Veronica, 337. 

Sabins, The, 379. 

Sabretache, Use of, 191. 

Sac Indians, 32. 

Sacred Geese, The, 127. 

Sacred Number, The, 318. 

Sagas, The Norse, in, 132. 

Sahib, Meaning of, 361. 

Sailor King, The, 296. 

Salaries of U. S. Officers, 28. 

Salic Law, The, 301. 

Salmagundi, 354. 

Salmoniac, 244. * 

Salt, Common Table, 325. 

Saltpetre, 244. 

Salts, Smelling, 433, Volatile, 433; of Tartar, 
244. 

Salvador, 367, 369. 

Salvation Army, 2x9. 

Samaritans, Tribes of, 381. 

Samnites, The, 378. 

Sancy Diamond, 137. 

Sand, George, 120. 

Sanjak-Sheriff, 301. 

San Marino, 336. 

San Salvador, 11, 367, 369. 

Sans-culottes, 303. 

Santa Sophia, Mosque of, 296. 

San Yago, The Order of, 363. 

Sapphire, The, 133. 

Sappho, Lyrics of, 109. 

Saracens, Nation of, 383. 

Saratoga, Battle, of, igq. 

Sarawak, 367. 

Sarcophagus, 157. 

Satellites, The, 226, 230. 

Saturn,138. 

Satyrs, The, 138. 

Savings, Daily, 172. 

Saws, American, 142. 

Saxons, The Race of, 379. 

Saxon Shore, The, 378. 

Scheffer, Ary, 293. 

Sea, The Caspian, 349. 

Sea Rovers, The, 378. 

Sea Songs, Dibdin’s 296. 

Secession, Ordinances of, 12: Earliest mention 
„ of, 339. 

Second Sight, Gift of, 133 
Secretaries of State, 273. 

Secret Service Money, 271, 

Secularism, 209. 

Security, Collateral, 165. 

Sedan, Battle of, 199. 

Sedan Chairs, 157. 

Seidlitz Powders, 393. 

Self-Reliance, 456. 

Seminole Indians, 32,27. 

Semiramis, Queen, 138. 

Semmes, Admiral R., 17. 

Senate, The U. S., 282. 

Seneca Nation, 32. 

Sentence, Of Excommunication, 2x0. 
Septuagint, The, 210. 

Seraglio, The Turkish, 354. 

Serenade, Origin of, 287. 

Serfdom, Austrian and Russian, 33. 




ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


477 


Servia, Kingdom of, 367, 369. 

Seven Days, The Biblical, 313. 

Seven Days' Battles, 192. 

Seven Sayings on the Cross, 313. 

Seven Sleepers, The, 320 
Seven Wise Men, 316. 

Seventy Years Captivity, The, 314. 

Sewers, Connection of, 388. 

Sewing, Position in, 387. 

Sewing Machine, First Patent, 151, 164. 

Shah Diamond, The, 370. 

Shah, The Title, 296 ; Meaning of, 365. 
Shah-Zada, The, 365. 

Shakers, Sect of, 212. 

Shamanism, 376. 

Shamrock, The, 205. 

Shaving Compound, 433. 

Sheik, Origin of, 361. 

Sheikh, The Title, 365. 

Sheikh al-Zebel, The Term, 365. 

Shenandoah, The River, 194. 

Sheriff, Defined, 269, 365. 

She-Wolf of France, The, 329. 

Shibboleth, The Term, 56. 

Shillelagh, 354. 

Ships, Clipper, 141; The First Cigar, 152; The 
Largest, 156; Rigging of, 157; Time on 
Board, 45. 

Ship’s Bells, 45. 

Shire, Meaning of, 378. 

Shirt Bosoms, Polish for, 438. 

Shocks Violent, 433. 

Shoe Plates, 151. 

Shoes,To Make Water-proof,437 ; to Soften,437. 
Shoulders, Remedy for Round, 412. 

Shyness, How to Overcome, 426. 

Siam, Kingdom of, 367, 369. 

Sicilian Vespers, 298. 

Sick Room, Caution in, 390. 

Siege of Orleans, 199. 

Siege of Sebastopol, 199. 

Silenus, 138. 

Silk Manufacture in U. S., 139; Production of, 
I 4 I - 

Silver, Production of, 171; The Standard, 171; 
Wash for, 437. 

Simonetta, The Castle of, 329. 

Simon Fitz-Mary, 336. 

Simonianism, 312. 

Simoom Wind, The, 227. 

Simplicity in Writing, 107. 

Sirens, The, 138. 

Sistine Chapel, Decorations of, 285. 

Sistone Chapel, The, 327. 

Sisyphus, 138. 

Sizar, The Order of, 364. 

Skates, Invention of, 153. 

Slavery and Serfdom, 33. 

Sleepers, The Famous, 132; The Seven, 132. 
Sleeping in Draughts, 387. 

Sleeplessness, 389. 

Slick, Sam, 120. 

Small Pox, Death by, 349. 

Smilax, 372. 

Smith, Capt. John, 16. 

Smithsonian Institution, 334. 

Sneezing,Superstition on,125; Etiquette of,126, 
Snoring, 392. 

Snow, Line of Perpetual, 225; White Appear¬ 
ance of, 227. 

Snow Plant, The, 226. 

Soap, Manufacture of, 139. 


Socialism, 312. 

Societies, Bible, 217 ; Vigilance, 358. 

Society, The Temple, 210. 

Society of Friends or Quakers, 213. 

Society of Jesus, 216. 

Sociology, 375, 

Soda, 244. 

Solar System, 239, 

Soldiers, Graves of, 42. 

Solomon’s Temple, 156. 

Sombrero, The, 349. 

Somnambulism, 232. 

Somnus, 138. 

Sonnets, Classification of, 54. 

Sons of Belial, 207. 

Sons of Liberty, 14. 

Soprano, In Music, 287, 

Sound Produced by Light, 231. 

South Africa, Negroes of, 376. 

South America, Republics in, 396. 

South Sea, Paradise of, 207. 

South Sea Bubble, 169. 

South Sea Scheme, 170. 

Sovereign, The Ruling, 363. 

Spahi, The Military, 190. 

Spain, Kingdom of, 367, 369. 

Spanish Armada, Defeat of, 199. 

Spanish Main, 332. 

Span of Wire, Longest, 152, 

Sparrow, The English, 356. 

Speaking, Correct, 57-63. 

Specific Gravities, Various, 259. 

Spectacles, Invention of, 151. 

Spectrum Analysis, 231. 

Speech, Errors of, 71; Man’s, 376. 

Speed, Standard of, 354. 

Sphinx, Described, 138, 348. 

Spirits, Astral, 126. 

Spirits, Proof, 392; Of Hartshorn, 244; Of 
Salt, 244. 

Sprains, 387. 

Squire of Alsatia, The, 335. 

Stained Glass Windows, 151. 

Stains, of Berries, Ink, etc., 435, 436. 
Stalwarts, The, 270. 

Stammering, 394. 

Standard Time, 44. 

Stanford, Leland, 327. 

Star Chamber, The, 308. 

Star of the South, Diamond, 370. 

Stars, Twinkling of, 236; The Falling, 245; 

Superstitions on, 130. 

Stars and Stripes, The, 12,16. 

State Election, 276. 

States Names, Origin of, 21. 

States, The Largest, 12; Capitals of, 19; Mot¬ 
toes of, 21; Nicknames of, 22. 

Statue, The Oldest Existing, 285 ; The Largest, 
289. 

Steam Engines, Horse Power of, 242; Inven¬ 
tion of, 155, 164; Largest, 158. 

Steamers, First Atlantic, 11; Invention of, 164. 
Steam Navigation, 146. 

Steam Vessel, The First, 189. 

Stedman, Edmund Clarence, 328. 

Steel Pens, Invention of, 151. 

Stentor and his Voice, 138. 

Stethoscope, Use of, 392. 

Stiver, The Coin, 177. 

Stocking Frame, Invention of, 154. 

Stock Jobbing, 167. 

Stoics, The, 206, 231. 





478 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


Stomach, Sickness of, 389, Cramps in, 389. 
Stone Cutting Saw, 154. 

Storting, The Scandinavian, 274. 

Stove Pipes, To Clean, 438. 

Stoves, Management of, 437. 

Stradivarius, 383. 

Stretton, Hesba, 120. 

Strikes in U. S., 20. 

Stucco, 244. 

Sturm und Drang Period, The, 114. 

Stuttering, 394. 

Styles, Early in Art, 382. 

Styx, The River, 138. 

Success, Laws of, 452. 

Suetonius Paulinus, 380. 

Suez Canal, The, 145. 

Suffocation from Gases, 414. 

Sugar of Lead, 244. 

Sun, Distance of, 41. 

Sun Dial, The, 41. 

Sun-Stroke, 444. 

Superior Lake, 13. 

Superstitions, The Obi, 115. 

Suspension Bridge, The Largest, 350. 

Sussex Co., Pa., How Named, 153. 

Suttee, The Indian, 333. 

Sweating System, The, 370. 

Sweden and Norway, 367, 369. 

Sweet Pea, 372. 

Swedenborgians, The, 208. 

Switzerland, 367, 369. * 

Swollen Feet, 410. 

Sword “ Excalibur,” The, 116.- 
Sword of God, The, 296. 

Sydenham Hill, 333. 

Sylvanus, 138. 

Synagogue, The Term, 212. 

Symmes’s Hole, 333. 

Synonyms, Twelve Thousand, 73-97. 

Syntax Dr.. 120. 

HTABERNACLE, The, 212. 

1 Tableaux Vivants, 287, 

Taboo, Derivation of, 54. 

Tacita, The Goddess, 138. 

Tael, The, 179. 

Talent, The, 180. 

Talent and Tact, 459. 

Talisman, Virtues of, 127. 

Talmud, The, 215. 

Tammany, What is, 275. 

Tantalus, 138. 

Taouism, Chinese, 209. 

Targee’s Past, 340. 

Targums, The, 2x1. 

Tariff, Defined, 274. 

Tartarus, 138. 

Tarpeian Rock, The, 338. 

Taurus, 138. 

Taylor, Pres. Zachary, 26. 

Tea, Uses of, 411; As Food, 419. 

Teeth, Care of, 432. 

Telegraph, First Electric, 151; Invention of, 
164; The First, 12. 

Telemachus, 138. 

Telepathy, Account of, 235. 

Telephone, Described, 153; Invention of, 151, 
164. 

Telescope, Invention of, 151, 164; The Refract¬ 
ing, 225. 

Temperatures, Very Cold, 242; In U. S., 18; 
Summer, 241. 


Templars, Order of, 302. 

Temple, Solomon’s, 156. 

Temple Bar, 334. 

Temple of Karnac, 284. 

Temple Society, The, 210. 

Tenant and Landlord, Laws of, 257. 

Ten Numerations, The, 315. 

Ten-Ton Freight Car, Capacity of, 180. 
Territories, Capitals of, 19. 

Testament, The New, 214. 

Teutons, The, 380. 

Texas, Area of, 12. 

Thackeray’s First Success, 109 
Thanksgiving Day, 42. 

Theatres, The Finest, 152. 

Theory of Auctions, 148. 

Theosophy Explained, 214. 

Thermometers, Comparison of, 241; Descrip¬ 
tion of, 241; Invention of, 164. 

Third House, The, 295 
Thirteen States, The Original, 11. 

Thistle, The, 372. 

Thought Reading, 237. 

Three, Symbolism of, 313, 314. 

Three R’s, The, 315. 

Thugs, Defined, 300. 

Thule, The Ancient, 128. 

Thumb, Dislocated, 442. 

Thundering Legion, 304. 

Thunder Storms, 329. 

Tickling, 387. 

Timbuctoo, 341. 

Time, Measure of, 41; Economy of, 458. 
Titans, The, 138. 

Tin, Solid, 228. 

Titcomb, Timothy, 120. 

Titian, The Painter, 284. * 

Titles of Courtesy, 361. 

Titles of U. S. Lands, 31. 

Titmarsh, M. Angelo, 120. 

Toadstool, The, 125. 

Tobacco, Discovery of, 12, 388. 

Toby Fillpot, 333. 

Toilet Hints, 449 ; The Breath, 449; The Com¬ 
plexion, 449; The Hair, 449; The Nails 
449; The Teeth, 449. 

Tom-o’-Bedlams, 336. 

Tom Thumb, Story of, 125. 

Tonsure, The, 207. 

Tontine, Definition of, 168. 

Toothache, Cures for, 432. 

Tooth Paste, Charcoal, 432. 

Tooth Powders, Good, 432. 

Topaz, The, 123. 

Torpedo, Invention of the, 164. 

Towers, Irish Round, 128; The Eiffel, 155. 

. Towns, Scriptural Names of, 209. 

Township, Defined, 356. 

Toy, A Winding, 151. 

Tracheotomy, 389. 

Trade Discounts, 173. 

Trade Winds, 227. 

Trafalgar, Battle of, 199. 

Transpositions, Alphabetical, 314. 

Transvaal, Republic of, 368. 

Trappists, The, 214, 

Traveling, Hints on, 451. 

Treaty of Berlin, 305, 308. 

Treaty of Peace, 191. 

Trees, Height of, 350; How to Measure, 186 
The Largest, 12; The Smallest, 226. 

Trent, Affairs of the, 14. 




ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


479 


Tribunes of the People, 300. 

Triple Alliance, 305. 

Tripoli, 368. 

Triton. The Sea-god, 138. 

Triumvirates, 297. 

Troubadours, Character of, in. 

Trouveres, Mission of the, in. 

Troy, City of, 138. 

Troy Weight, 182. 

Truce of God, 190. 

Truck System, The, 154. 

Trumbull, Artist, 293. 

Trusts and Combinations, 166. 

Tuberose, 372. 

Tuileries, The, 336. 

Tunkers, The, 213. 

Tunis, 368. 

Tunnel, The Longest, 329. 

Turkish Empire, 367, 369. 

Turpentine, Virtues of, 434. 

Turquoise, The, 133. 

Twain, Mark, 120. 

Twelve Thousand Synonyms and Antonyms, 
73-97- 

Twickenham, 327. 

Tyler, Pres. John, 26. 

Types of Man, 375, 376; Different, 380; The 
Dwarf, 377 ; The Ethiopic, 380. 

Typhoid Fever, 399. 

U HLANS, The Military-, 192. 

Umbrellas, The First, 151, 154. 
Ultramontane, Meaning of, 209. 

Ukase, The Term, 271. 

Ulysses, 138. 

Umbrian School, The, 292. 

Uncle Remus, 120. 

Uncle Sam, Origin of Term, 13. 
Under-Clothing, 387. 

Undine, Legend of, 127. 

Uniforms, Military, 191. 

Union Arch, The, 154. 

United States, Alien Land Holders in, 30; 
Army Generals of, 27; Capitals of, 15; 
Civil Service in, 27; Climates in, 18; Coal 
- Production of, 149; Crime in, 20; Drink 
in, 20; Earnirgs of, 20; Exports and Im¬ 
ports of, 139; Fires in, 20; First Sugar 
Cane, 140; First Sugar Mill, 140; First 
Things in, 11; Food Waste in, 20; Gas, 
Illuminating, in, 151; Growth of, 18; 
Holidays in, 50; Homestead Law of, 30; 
Illiteracy in, 20; Immigration to, 24; Im¬ 
portant Figures on, 19; Leather Industry 
in, 140; Liquor Bill of, 20; Official Salaries 
of, 28 ; Oldest Church in, 205 ; Oldest City- 
in, 11; Opium Smokers in, 393; Paper 
Making, 140; Patent Office in, 29; Pau¬ 
perism in, 20; Presidents of, 16; Public 
Debt of, 34; Public Lands n, 30, 31, 32; 
Rebellion in, 35; Religious Bodies in, 
222; Silk Manufacture in, 139; Slavery in, 
33; Strikes in, 20; The Constitution of, 
39; The Deepest Coal Shaft in, 330: The 
Deepest Silver Mine of, 330; Wars of, 27 ; 
Wealth of, 20. 

Universal Suffrage, 271. 

Universities, The Great, 296; Extension of, 
358; The Charlemagne, 328; The Oxford, 
328 ; The Dublin, 328. 

Uruguay, Republic of, 367, 369. 

Usury, Definition of, 169. 


VALENTINE, 44. 

V Valley of Death, 336. 

Valley of the Arno, 295. 

Valley of the Upas Tree, 336. 

Valmy, Battle of, 199. 

Valzin, Manufacture of, 140. 

Van Buren, Pres. Martin,26. 

Vandals, The, 382. 

Vandervede, Painter, 292. 

Van Dyke, 284. 

Van Eyck, 293. 

Van Ostade, 292. 

Vanity Fair, 124. 

Varangians, The, 379. 

Vase, The Barberine, 291; The Portland, 291. 
Vatican, Palace of the, 286; Gold in the, 166. 
Vaticanus, Mons, 331. 

Veda, The, 211. 

Vedas, 129. 

Vegetables, As Food, 418. 

Vellum, Definition of, 154. 

Vendome Column, The, 333. 

Venetian School, The, 292. 

Venezuela, 368. 

Ventilation in Bedrooms, 387. 

Ventriloquism, What is, 246. 

Venus, The Goddess, 138. 

Veracity in Business, 422. 

Verbena, The, 372. 

Verdigris, 244. 

Vermilion, 244. 

Vermin, Flow to Destroy, 427. 

Vernet, Horace, 292. 

Versailles, Of Prussia, The, 295. 

Verse, Blank, 113. 

Vesta, 138. 

Vials, To Cleanse, 437. 

Vicar of Wakefield, The, 123. 

Victoria Cross, The, 191. 

Vigil, What is a, 213. 

Vikings, The, 12, 301, 378, 379. 

Vill. The, 356. 

Villeins, 360. 

Vinegar, Spirits of, 434. 

Vinland, Account of, 15. 

Virginia, First Settlers in, n, 16. 

Vishnu, 129. 

Visigoths, The Race of, 381. 

Vision, Limits of, 394. 

Vitriol, Blue, 244; Oil of, 244; Green, 244; 
White, 244. 

Vivandiere, The Military, 192. 

Vivisection, 233 
Vogelweide Walter, 113. 

Volapiik, Analysis of, 65. 

Volatile Alkali, 244. 

Volcano, The Loftiest, 329; The Asosan, 338; 

Popocatapetl, 329. 

Volsci, The, 337. 

Vortigern, 137. 

Vowels, The, 322. 

Vulcan, The god, 138. 

Vulcan’s Mirror, 125. 

Vulgate Bible, The 214. 

W AHABEES, Tribe of, 216. 

Wakes, Origin of, 215. 

Waldenses, The, 217. 

Walhalla, The Scandinavian, 126. 

Walkyria, The Scandinavian, 126. 

Wall of China, The Great, 151, 152. 

Walloons, The, 382. 





480 


ALPHABETICAL LNDEX. 


Wambutti, The, 379. 

Wandering Jew, The, 118. 

Ward, Artemus, 120. 

Ward, The Painter, 292. 

Warriors, The First, 189. 

Wars, Cost of, 196; Cost of American, 198; 
Cost of Recent, 198; Franco-German, 191, 
202; Indian Mutiny, 200; Length of 
American, 198; Of 1812, 349; Of U. S., 
27; Recent Desperate, 200; Russo-Turk- 
ish, 201; Uniforms in, 191; The Abyssin¬ 
ian, 200; The American Civil, 200; The 
Civil, 197; The Seven Weeks, 190; The 
Mexican 191; Wars of the Roses, 193; 
Zulu, 202. 

War Vessels, The Fastest, 13. 

Washington and Education, 335. 

Washington, President George, 

Washington Monument, 40. 

Watch Night, 213. 

Watch on Shipboard, 243. 

Watches, Invention of, 42, 164; Some Marvel 
ous, 152. 

Water, How to Drink, 412; To Test Pure, 
160; Value of Hot, 406. 

Waterfalls, Great, 240. 

Waterloo, Battle of, 191, 199. 

Waterproof, Cloth, 161. 

Watershed, The, 229. 

Waterspouts, Defined, 235. 

Wat Tyler’s Insurrection, 309. 

Watling Island, 11. 

Wealth of United States, 20. 

Weeping Philosopher, 329. 

Weights, Apothecaries, 182; Avoirdupois, 182; 
Domestic, 181; Metric, 182; Sundry 183; 
Troy, 182. 

Well-beloved King, The, 296. 

Wends, The, 376, 

Werewolf, The, 126. 

West, Benjamin, 292. 

Westward Ho! 337. 

Wetherell, Elizabeth,120. 

Whales, Age of, 228. 

Whaling Ships, 139, 

Wheat, Product of, 140. 

Wheel, Breaking on the, 301, 

Wh'g, The Term, 274. 

Whinwinds, 235. 

Whiskey Insurrection, The, 13. 

Whistler, McNeil, 292. 

Whitecaps, 358. 

White Lead, Invention of, 139; Production of, 
141 - 

White Precipitate, 244. 

White Vitriol, 244. 

Whittier, The Poet, 328. 

Whooping Cough, 388. 


Wilderness, The, 193. 

Wills, How to Make, 265. 

Wilmot Proviso, The, 15. 

Windermere, Lake, 337. 

Window Glass, Paint on, 438. 

Winds, The Chinook, 234; The Simoom, 227; 
Itie Trade, 227. 

Wire, Uses of, 152 ; Longest Span of, 152. 

Wisest Fool in Christendom, 295. 

Witchcraft, History of, 131, Latest Conviction 
for, 131; Trial of, 125. 

Witch Hazel, 372. 

Wits, The Five, 318. 

Woman Suffrage, 280. 

Women, Married, 267. 

Wonders, A Dozen American, 40. 

Words, Longest English, 54; Misdivision of, 
58; Poor Enunciation of, 58; Right 
Pronunciation of, 58. 

World, Amount of Money in the, 167; Around 
the, 147; Chief Languages of, 57; Coal 
Fields of, 149; End of the, 372; Finest 
Harbors of, 149; Largest Bells in the, 154; 
Money of, 180; National Debts of, 171; 
Noted Bridges of the, 159; Population of, 
374; Seven Bibles of, 218; Seven Wonders 
of, 346; Summer Temperatures of, 241; 
Armed Navies of, 189; Deepest Coal Mine 
in, 328; Deepest Rock Salt in, 327; High¬ 
est Monument in, 153; Largest Cavern in, 
327 ; Largest Diamond in, 358; Merctanile 
Navies of, 189; Noblest Part of, 347. 

World’s Fairs, The Great, 36, 366. 

Worm, The Army, 227. 

Worship of Dagon, The, 126. 

Wounds, Remedies for, 442. 

Wrinkles, 389. 

Writers, Stray Hints for, 107. 

Writing, In Cipher, 54; Cufic, 54; Two Kinds 
of, 3 * 5 - 

ELLOW Jacket, The, 330, 

Yosemite Valley, 40. 

Young England Party, 298. 

Young Ireland Party, 298. 

Yule I-og, The Term, 362. 

Yunker Party, The, 295. 

Z ADKIEL, The Pseudonym, 120. 

Zanzibar, 367. 

Zemindar, The, 364. 

Zenana, The, 357. 

Zeiidavesta, The, 208. 

Zephyrus, 138. 

Zodiac, Signs of the, 238. 

Zollverein, The, 141. 

Zouaves, The, 195. 

Zulu War, The, 202. 





















